The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when you can plant zinnia is to examine the USDA zone info for Rye.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

Zinnia require warm weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Rye 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rye. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rye is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rye you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your zinnia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rye

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Rye

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