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.

The USDA zone info for Carteret should be reffered to in order to figure out when to plant marigold.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Marigold are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Carteret 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your marigold may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Carteret. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Carteret is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Carteret you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your marigold in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carteret

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Carteret

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