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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant zinnia is to use the USDA zone info for Bell.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

Zinnia require warm weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Bell is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant zinnia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your zinnia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your zinnia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Bell the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bell and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Bell you get a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your zinnia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Bell

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