The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's the best time to plant violas is to examine the USDA zone info for Hercules.

Planting Calendar for Violas

Frost tolerance for violas:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant violas quite a bit earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant violas in Hercules 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 violas and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your violas may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your violas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Hercules the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Hercules is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Hercules it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your violas in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hercules

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 Hercules

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