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

It's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant marigold by checking out the USDA zone info for Rocky Mount.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Marigold require warm weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Rocky Mount 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Rocky Mount. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Rocky Mount may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Rocky Mount you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your marigold if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rocky Mount

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Rocky Mount

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rocky Mount.