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

In Cary you can figure out when you can plant zinnia by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

Zinnia require warm weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Cary 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 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cary. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Cary is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Cary you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your zinnia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cary

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 Cary

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