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.

It's a good idea to estimate when to plant violets by looking at the USDA zone info for Arcata.

Planting Calendar for Violets

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

Violets do well in moderate 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 violets in Arcata is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant violets and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your violets may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your violets indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Arcata. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Arcata may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Arcata there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your violets if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Arcata

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Arcata

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