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.

The USDA zone info for Albuquerque can be looked at to figure out when it's possible to plant marigold.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

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

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Albuquerque 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 few weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Albuquerque. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Albuquerque and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Albuquerque you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your marigold in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Albuquerque

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 Albuquerque

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