The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. 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 Pontiac it's a good idea to figure out when to plant violas.

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 a bit of 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 Pontiac 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your violas indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Pontiac. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Pontiac is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Pontiac you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your violas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pontiac

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 Pontiac

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