The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant zinnia by referring to the USDA zone info for Carthage.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

It's a bad idea to plant zinnia until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Carthage 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Carthage. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Carthage may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Carthage there is a last frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your zinnia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carthage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Carthage

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