One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

It's possible to determine when you can plant violas by referring to the USDA zone info for State College.

Planting Calendar for Violas

Frost tolerance for violas:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant violas earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

In State College the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for State College is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in State College last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your violas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for State College

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 Low	0°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 State College

You may be interested in your other planting guides for State College.