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

A way of determining when to plant zinnia is to examine the USDA zone info for Middletown.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

Since zinnia are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Middletown 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 grow to maturity. 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 Middletown. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Middletown is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Middletown you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your zinnia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Middletown

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 Middletown

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