One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant marigold by reviewing the USDA zone info for San Benito.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Marigold are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in San Benito is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant marigold and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your marigold may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in San Benito. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for San Benito is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in San Benito it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your marigold in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Benito

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in San Benito

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Benito.