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.

A way of figuring out when it's possible to plant tagetes is to examine the USDA zone info for Waterville.

Planting Calendar for Tagetes

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

Since tagetes do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tagetes in Waterville 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. Any later than that and your tagetes may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tagetes indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Waterville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Waterville and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Waterville last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your tagetes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waterville

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 Waterville

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