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

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant zinnia by using the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

Frost tolerance for zinnia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since zinnia require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Lake Elmo is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. If you wait any later than that and your zinnia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Lake Elmo. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Elmo there is a last frost after May 15 so always be ready to protect your zinnia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Elmo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Lake Elmo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Elmo.