One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Amherst you should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant tagetes.

Planting Calendar for Tagetes

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

Since tagetes require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tagetes 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 tagetes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tagetes may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tagetes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Amherst. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Amherst may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Amherst you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your tagetes if you have a surprise late frost.

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.