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.

The first opportunity to plant marigold in Gainesville should be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

It's a bad idea to plant marigold until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Gainesville 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. Any later than that and 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 when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Gainesville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gainesville is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Gainesville last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your marigold in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gainesville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Gainesville

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