One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant calendula in Alcoa by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Calendula

Frost tolerance for calendula:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Calendula do well in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant calendula in Alcoa is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant calendula and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your calendula may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your calendula indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Alcoa. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Alcoa is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Alcoa last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your calendula in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alcoa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Alcoa

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