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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Chico it's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant violets.

Planting Calendar for Violets

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

Since violets do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant violets in Chico 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. If you wait any later than that and your violets may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your violets indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Chico the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Chico is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Chico there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your violets in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chico

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Chico

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