The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant tagetes is to look at the USDA zone info for Mansfield.

Planting Calendar for Tagetes

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant tagetes until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant tagetes in Mansfield 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 fully mature. Starting your tagetes indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mansfield the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mansfield is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Mansfield there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your tagetes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mansfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Mansfield

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