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.

The first opportunity to plant violets in Des Moines can be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

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 one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant violets in Des Moines 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. If you wait any later than that and your violets may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your violets indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Des Moines 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.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Des Moines and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Des Moines last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your violets if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Des Moines

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 Des Moines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Des Moines.