One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant zinnia by reviewing the USDA zone info for Rantoul.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

Since zinnia require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Rantoul 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Rantoul. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Rantoul may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rantoul you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your zinnia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rantoul

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 Rantoul

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