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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Washington it's possible to determine when you can plant tagetes.

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 it is necessary 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 Washington 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 grow to maturity. Starting your tagetes indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Washington. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Washington and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Washington it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your tagetes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

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 Washington

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