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

The USDA zone info for Yakima should be reviewed to estimate when it's possible 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.

Violas do ok in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant violas in Yakima 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Yakima. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Yakima may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Yakima you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your violas in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Yakima

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 Yakima

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