Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant violas is to use the USDA zone info for Olympia Fields.

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 cold which means that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Olympia Fields. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Olympia Fields is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Olympia Fields there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your violas in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Olympia Fields

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 Olympia Fields

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Olympia Fields.