One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Arlington Heights you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant violas by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Violas

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

Violas do well in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant violas in Arlington Heights 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 violas and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your violas may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your violas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Arlington Heights. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Arlington Heights is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Arlington Heights you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your violas in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Arlington Heights

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 Arlington Heights

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Arlington Heights.