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

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant zinnia is to check out the USDA zone info for Shelbyville.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

You can not plant zinnia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Shelbyville 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your zinnia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your zinnia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Shelbyville. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Shelbyville is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Shelbyville there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your zinnia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shelbyville

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 Shelbyville

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