One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Springfield you can figure out when it's possible to plant marigold by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Marigold are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Springfield 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Springfield. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Springfield is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Springfield you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your marigold in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Springfield

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 Springfield

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