One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Hood River can be reffered to in order to figure out when it's possible to plant calendula.

Planting Calendar for Calendula

Frost tolerance for calendula:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Calendula do well in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant calendula in Hood River is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant calendula and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your calendula may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your calendula indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Hood River the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hood River and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Hood River you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your calendula if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hood River

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 Hood River

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hood River.