One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In Smiths Station you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant violets by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Violets

Frost tolerance for violets:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Violets can survive in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant violets in Smiths Station is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant violets and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your violets may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your violets indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Smiths Station. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Smiths Station is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Smiths Station you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your violets in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smiths Station

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 Smiths Station

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Smiths Station.