One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Gastonia can be reffered to in order to figure out when you can plant marigold.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Since marigold do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Gastonia 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. Any later than that and your marigold may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Gastonia is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Gastonia it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your marigold if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Gastonia

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 Gastonia

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