One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant zinnia is to examine the USDA zone info for New Iberia.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant zinnia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in New Iberia 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 zinnia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 February 15 in New Iberia. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for New Iberia is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in New Iberia there is a last frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your zinnia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Iberia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in New Iberia

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Iberia.