One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

In Mercedes you can figure out when it's the best time to plant violas by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 a lot earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant violas in Mercedes 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. If you are starting your violas indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mercedes the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mercedes is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Mercedes you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your violas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mercedes

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Mercedes

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