Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant calendula is to look at the USDA zone info for Manchester.

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 Manchester 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calendula may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your calendula indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Manchester. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Manchester may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Manchester you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your calendula if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Manchester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Manchester

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