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

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant zinnia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Binghamton.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

Zinnia do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Binghamton 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Binghamton. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

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 Binghamton and it is different every year. Half of the time in Binghamton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your zinnia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Binghamton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Binghamton

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