When to Plant Pansies in Zone 1b

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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant pansies is to consult the USDA zone info for Zone 1b.


Planting Calendar for Pansies

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

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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pansies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pansies
Probably not a good time to plant pansies

The earliest that you can plant pansies in Zone 1b is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pansies and expect a good harvest is probably July. Any later than that and your pansies may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pansies indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 1b the average date of last frost happens on June 15. It might get as low as -55°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Zone 1b is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 1b you get surprised by a frost after June 15 so always be ready to cover your pansies if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 1b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 1b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)June 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)July 15
Lowest Expected Low-55°F
Highest Expected Low-50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -55°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -50°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 1b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 1b.