One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant violas is to check out the USDA zone info for Washington.

Planting Calendar for Violas

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

Violas do well in cold which means that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant violas in Washington 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. If you wait 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 when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Washington. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Washington and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Washington there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your violas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

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 Washington

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