One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The USDA zone info for Vail can be reffered to in order to determine when you can plant zinnia.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant zinnia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Vail is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Vail. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Vail is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Vail last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to cover your zinnia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Vail

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Vail

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