One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant marigold in Amherst by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

You really shouldn't plant marigold until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Amherst 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. If you wait any later than that and your marigold may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your marigold indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Amherst. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Amherst is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Amherst it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your marigold if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Amherst

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Amherst

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