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.

The USDA zone info for Houghton should be reviewed to determine when you can plant creeping zinnia.

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.

Since creeping zinnia are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant creeping zinnia in Houghton 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. If you wait any later than that and 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Houghton is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Houghton it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your creeping zinnia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Houghton

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 Houghton

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