When to Plant Pansies in Denver, CO

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when you can plant pansies is to consult the USDA zone info for Denver.


Planting Calendar for Pansies

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

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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pansies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pansies
Probably not a good time to plant pansies

The earliest that you can plant pansies in Denver is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pansies and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pansies may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pansies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Denver the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Denver is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Denver last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your pansies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Denver

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Denver

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