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.

In Ithaca you can estimate when you can plant zinnia 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.

You can not plant zinnia until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Ithaca. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Ithaca may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ithaca it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your zinnia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ithaca

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Ithaca

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