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.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant marigold by referring to the USDA zone info for Port Royal.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Marigold require warm weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Port Royal 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 grow to maturity. Starting your marigold indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Port Royal. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Port Royal is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Port Royal it frosts late in the year after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your marigold if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Port Royal

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 Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 Port Royal

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Port Royal.