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.

The USDA zone info for Ellensburg should be looked at to figure out when to plant violas.

Planting Calendar for Violas

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

Since violas do well in cold you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ellensburg and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ellensburg you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your violas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ellensburg

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 Ellensburg

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