One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when you can plant zinnia is to look at the USDA zone info for Utica.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant zinnia until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Utica 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. Any later than that and your zinnia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Utica. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Utica may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Utica it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your zinnia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Utica

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Utica

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