Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to estimate when you can plant marigold by referring to the USDA zone info for Rochester.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Marigold do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it is necessary 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 marigold in Rochester 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your marigold may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Rochester. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Rochester is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Rochester you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your marigold if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

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 Rochester

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