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

By using the USDA zone info for East Rochester you should be able to estimate when to plant zinnia.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

You really shouldn't plant zinnia until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in East Rochester 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 really do well. Starting your zinnia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In East Rochester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for East Rochester is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in East Rochester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your zinnia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Rochester

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 East Rochester

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Rochester.