Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when to plant tagetes is to examine the USDA zone info for Dowagiac.

Planting Calendar for Tagetes

Frost tolerance for tagetes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Tagetes require warm weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tagetes in Dowagiac 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 tagetes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tagetes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tagetes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Dowagiac. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Dowagiac is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dowagiac last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your tagetes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dowagiac

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Dowagiac

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