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 looking at the USDA zone info for North Platte you will be able 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 are very cold tolerant which means that you can plant them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant violas in North Platte 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your violas indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in North Platte. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for North Platte is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in North Platte it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your violas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for North Platte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in North Platte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for North Platte.