When to Plant Zinnia in Long Beach, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. 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 Long Beach it's a good idea to determine when to plant zinnia.


Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

You should not plant zinnia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

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 Long Beach 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 really do well. 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

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Long Beach. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Long Beach is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Long Beach it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to cover your zinnia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Long Beach

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 Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°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 Long Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Long Beach.