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.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant violets is to examine the USDA zone info for Manitou Springs.

Planting Calendar for Violets

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

Since violets are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant violets in Manitou Springs 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 violets and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your violets may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your violets indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Manitou Springs the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Manitou Springs and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Manitou Springs you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your violets in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Manitou Springs

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 Manitou Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Manitou Springs.