One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mount Vernon can be reffered to in order 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 when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant zinnia until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Mount Vernon 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 really do well. Starting your zinnia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mount Vernon the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Mount Vernon is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mount Vernon last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your zinnia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Vernon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Mount Vernon

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Vernon.