One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Effingham you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant violas by using 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 tend to make it in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant violas in Effingham 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. If you wait any later than that and your violas may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your violas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Effingham the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Effingham is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Effingham you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your violas in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Effingham

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Effingham

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