One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Altoona you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant tagetes by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tagetes

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

Tagetes are not cold tolerant which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tagetes in Altoona 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. If you wait any later than that and your tagetes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tagetes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Altoona. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Altoona is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Altoona last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your tagetes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Altoona

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 Altoona

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