One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

A way of getting a good idea when to plant violets is to examine the USDA zone info for Los Altos.

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 some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant violets in Los Altos 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 fully mature. If you are starting your violets indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Los Altos 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 the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Los Altos and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Los Altos last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your violets if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Los Altos

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 Los Altos

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Altos.