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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant marigold is to use the USDA zone info for Atlantic City.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

It's a bad idea to plant marigold until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Atlantic City 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. Starting your marigold indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Atlantic City. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Atlantic City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Atlantic City you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your marigold in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Atlantic City

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 Atlantic City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Atlantic City.