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

You will be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant pansies by checking out the USDA zone info for La Crosse.

Planting Calendar for Pansies

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

Pansies do well in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pansies in La Crosse is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pansies and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pansies may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pansies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in La Crosse. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°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 La Crosse and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in La Crosse you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pansies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Crosse

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in La Crosse

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Crosse.