One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant marigold in Clemson by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

You really shouldn't plant marigold until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Clemson 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 marigold and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your marigold may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your marigold indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Clemson. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Clemson may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Clemson there is a last frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your marigold if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clemson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Clemson

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