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.

A common way of getting a good idea when to plant violets is to consult the USDA zone info for Hood River.

Planting Calendar for Violets

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

Violets are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant violets in Hood 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 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your violets indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Hood River. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hood River and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Hood River you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your violets in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hood River

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Hood River

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