Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Ruidoso can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

It's not a good idea to plant zinnia until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Ruidoso 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. If you wait any later than that and 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ruidoso. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ruidoso and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ruidoso there is a last 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 Ruidoso

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Ruidoso

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