Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Pontiac should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to 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.

Since zinnia do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Pontiac 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. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Pontiac the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Pontiac is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Pontiac you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your zinnia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pontiac

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Pontiac

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