Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant violas in Merrill can be estimated by looking at 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.

Violas are very cold tolerant which means that you can plant them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant violas in Merrill 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 violas and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your violas may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your violas indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Merrill. You should expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Merrill and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Merrill it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your violas if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Merrill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Merrill

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