The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 making a decision about when it's possible to plant violas is to refer to the USDA zone info for Dayton.

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 pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant violas in Dayton is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant violas and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your violas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your violas indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Dayton. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dayton and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Dayton you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your violas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Dayton

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