🌼 When to Plant Calendula
Cool-season flower; edible petals. Attracts beneficial insects
📅 Planting Calendar by USDA Zone
Calendula is a cool-season crop — plant it around your last spring frost, and you can often start it earlier indoors or sow again for a fall harvest. Find the exact start-indoors, transplant, and direct-sow dates for your USDA zone in the table below.
Select your zone to highlight your dates. All dates are calculated from each zone's average frost dates — see how we calculate them.
| Zone | Last Frost | Start Indoors | Transplant | Direct Sow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2A | May 30 | Apr 18 | May 16 | May 16 |
| Zone 3B | May 15 | Apr 3 | May 1 | May 1 |
| Zone 4A | May 8 | Mar 27 | Apr 24 | Apr 24 |
| Zone 4B | May 1 | Mar 20 | Apr 17 | Apr 17 |
| Zone 5A | Apr 25 | Mar 14 | Apr 11 | Apr 11 |
| Zone 5B | Apr 18 | Mar 7 | Apr 4 | Apr 4 |
| Zone 6A | Apr 21 | Mar 10 | Apr 7 | Apr 7 |
| Zone 6B | Apr 10 | Feb 27 | Mar 27 | Mar 27 |
| Zone 7A | Apr 5 | Feb 22 | Mar 22 | Mar 22 |
| Zone 7B | Mar 28 | Feb 14 | Mar 14 | Mar 14 |
| Zone 8A | Mar 20 | Feb 6 | Mar 6 | Mar 6 |
| Zone 8B | Mar 12 | Jan 29 | Feb 26 | Feb 26 |
| Zone 9A | Feb 28 | Jan 17 | Feb 14 | Feb 14 |
| Zone 9B | Feb 15 | Jan 4 | Feb 1 | Feb 1 |
| Zone 10A | Feb 1 | Dec 21 | Jan 18 | Jan 18 |
| Zone 10B | Jan 15 | Dec 4 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 |
| Zone 11A | Jan 1 | Nov 20 | Dec 18 | Dec 18 |
Calendula (pot marigold) is a cool-season flower with medicinal properties and cheerful blooms.
Top Growing Tips
- Prefers cool weather — blooms best in spring and fall
- Self-seeds prolifically — you’ll have it forever after one planting
- Petals are edible — use as ‘poor man’s saffron’ in cooking
- Attracts beneficial insects including hoverflies and lacewings
- Used in herbal salves and skin care for centuries
Companion Planting
Good companions: tomatoes, asparagus, virtually everything
Avoid planting near: none — calendula is a universal garden friend
Harvest Timeline
Flowering in 45-60 days from seed; harvest when fully open
Growing calendula in your region?
These dates come from your zone's frost windows. For the full month-by-month plan — succession sowing, variety picks, and timing tuned to your climate, not just your zone — our regional vegetable-gardening guides cover your area start to finish.
Find your regional growing guide