The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when to plant zinnia by looking at the USDA zone info for Ripon.

Planting Calendar for Zinnia

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

It's a bad idea to plant zinnia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant zinnia in Ripon 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 Ripon. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Ripon is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ripon there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your zinnia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ripon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ripon

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