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.

The first chance to plant calendula in Cary can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Calendula

Frost tolerance for calendula:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since calendula are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant calendula in Cary is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant calendula and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your calendula may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your calendula indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cary. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Cary is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Cary it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your calendula in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cary

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Cary

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