When to Plant Violets in Riverdale, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Riverdale it's a good idea to estimate when 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.

Since violets are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant violets
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant violets
Probably not a good time to plant violets

The earliest that you can plant violets in Riverdale 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. If you wait any later than that and your violets may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your violets indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Riverdale 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 Riverdale is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Riverdale you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your violets in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Riverdale

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 Riverdale

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