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When to Plant Marigold in Hilton Head Island, SC

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Hilton Head Island can be used to figure out when to plant marigold.


Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Marigold do not do well in cold weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant marigold
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant marigold
Probably not a good time to plant marigold

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Hilton Head Island 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Hilton Head Island. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hilton Head Island and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Hilton Head Island last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your marigold in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hilton Head Island

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)November 15
Lowest Expected Low15°F
Highest Expected Low20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Hilton Head Island

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hilton Head Island.