Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Maquoketa can be looked at to figure out when it's a good idea to plant zinnia.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

Zinnia do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Maquoketa 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Maquoketa. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Maquoketa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Maquoketa you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your zinnia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Maquoketa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Maquoketa

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