Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Urbana can be reviewed to estimate when you can 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 tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant violas in Urbana 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your violas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your violas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Urbana. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Urbana is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Urbana you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your violas in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Urbana

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 Urbana

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