One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Ione it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant violas.

Planting Calendar for Violas

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

Since violas are very cold tolerant you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant violas in Ione 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your violas indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ione is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ione you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your violas in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ione

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 Ione

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