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.

The first opportunity to plant violas in West Lafayette should be estimated by reviewing 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant violas in West Lafayette 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. Any later than that and your violas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your violas indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in West Lafayette. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Lafayette is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in West Lafayette there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your violas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Lafayette

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 Lafayette

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