When to Plant Violas in Wood River, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Wood River you can figure out when it's the best time 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 do ok in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant violas in Wood River 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 fully mature. Starting your violas indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Wood River. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Wood River 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 Wood River there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your violas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wood River

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Wood River

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Wood River.