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 determine when to plant marigold in Melrose by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

Frost tolerance for marigold:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You should not plant marigold until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Melrose 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 fully mature. Starting your marigold indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Melrose the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Melrose is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Melrose there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your marigold in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Melrose

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Melrose

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Melrose.