When to Plant Violas in Zone 3a

One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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 earliest that you can plant violas in Zone 3a can be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

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Planting Calendar for Violas

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

Since violas are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant violas in Zone 3a 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. If you wait any later than that and your violas may not have a chance to really do well. 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 Zone 3a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -40°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 3a is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Zone 3a you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your violas if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 3a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-40°F
Highest Expected Low-35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -35°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 3a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 3a.