One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Geneva you should be able to figure out 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.

You should not plant zinnia until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Geneva 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Geneva. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Geneva is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Geneva it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your zinnia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

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 Geneva

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Geneva.