Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant tagetes is to use the USDA zone info for West Bend.

Planting Calendar for Tagetes

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

Since tagetes are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tagetes in West Bend 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 tagetes and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your tagetes may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tagetes indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in West Bend. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for West Bend and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in West Bend it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your tagetes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Bend

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in West Bend

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Bend.