When to Plant Zinnia in Nanticoke, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Nanticoke you should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant zinnia.


Planting Calendar for Zinnia

Frost tolerance for zinnia: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Zinnia are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant zinnia
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant zinnia
Probably not a good time to plant zinnia

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

Last Frost Date

In Nanticoke the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Nanticoke is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Nanticoke last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your zinnia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Nanticoke

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 Nanticoke

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