One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

A way of estimating when to plant marigold is to check out the USDA zone info for Ishpeming.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

It's not a good idea to plant marigold until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Ishpeming is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. Starting your marigold indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ishpeming the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ishpeming and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ishpeming you get a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your marigold if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ishpeming

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ishpeming

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