One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 first opportunity to plant zinnia in Gulfport can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

It's a bad idea to plant zinnia until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Gulfport 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 fully mature. 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 Gulfport. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gulfport may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Gulfport last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your zinnia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Gulfport

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 Gulfport

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