One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant marigold in Michigan City by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

Frost tolerance for marigold:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since marigold do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Michigan City is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant marigold and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your marigold may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Michigan City. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Michigan City is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Michigan City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your marigold in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Michigan City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Michigan City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Michigan City.