One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The first chance to plant violets in Columbia can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Violets

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

Since violets do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant violets in Columbia 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. If you wait any later than that and your violets may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your violets indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Columbia. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbia may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your violets in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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