One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Atlantic City you can determine when it's the best time to plant zinnia by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

Zinnia are not cold tolerant which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Atlantic City 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Atlantic City. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Atlantic City is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Atlantic City it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your zinnia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Atlantic City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Atlantic City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Atlantic City.