One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant creeping zinnia is to look at the USDA zone info for Columbia.

Planting Calendar for Creeping Zinnia

Frost tolerance for creeping zinnia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Creeping Zinnia tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant creeping zinnia in Columbia is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant creeping zinnia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your creeping zinnia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your creeping zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Columbia may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Columbia last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your creeping zinnia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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