One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In West Chicago you can figure out when it's the best time to plant violets by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Violets

Frost tolerance for violets:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant violets just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant violets in West Chicago 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your violets may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your violets indoors.

Last Frost Date

In West Chicago the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for West Chicago is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in West Chicago last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your violets in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Chicago

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 West Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Chicago.