When to Plant Creeping Zinnia in Wilmette, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant creeping zinnia in Wilmette can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Creeping Zinnia

Frost tolerance for creeping zinnia: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant creeping zinnia slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant creeping zinnia
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant creeping zinnia
Probably not a good time to plant creeping zinnia

The earliest that you can plant creeping zinnia in Wilmette is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant creeping zinnia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your creeping zinnia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your creeping zinnia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Wilmette the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Wilmette is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Wilmette you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your creeping zinnia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmette

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 Wilmette

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