Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mechanicsburg should be reviewed to determine when it's a good idea to plant zinnia.

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 tells us that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Mechanicsburg 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

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

Since the USDA zone info for Mechanicsburg may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Mechanicsburg last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your zinnia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mechanicsburg

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 Mechanicsburg

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