One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of figuring out when to plant zinnia is to look at the USDA zone info for Universal City.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

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

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Universal City 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Universal City. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Universal City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Universal City last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your zinnia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Universal City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Universal City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Universal City.