When to Plant Zinnia in Mount Rainier, MD

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mount Rainier can be read to determine when it's possible to plant zinnia.


Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

Zinnia require warm weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant zinnia
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant zinnia
Probably not a good time to plant zinnia

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Mount Rainier 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 zinnia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your zinnia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your zinnia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Mount Rainier may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Mount Rainier you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your zinnia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Rainier

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 Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°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 Mount Rainier

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Rainier.