One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Muscatine you should be able to estimate when you can plant zinnia.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant zinnia until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Muscatine 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. Any later than that and your zinnia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your zinnia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Muscatine the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Muscatine is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Muscatine last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your zinnia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Muscatine

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Muscatine

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