One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Red Oak you should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant violets.

Planting Calendar for Violets

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

You can plant violets a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant violets in Red Oak 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your violets may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your violets indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Red Oak. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Red Oak is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Red Oak you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your violets if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Red Oak

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Red Oak

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Red Oak.