One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 figure out when it's a good idea to plant anchusa by checking out the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Anchusa

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

Since anchusa are very cold tolerant you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant anchusa in Richmond is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant anchusa and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your anchusa may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your anchusa indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on January 31 in Richmond. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Richmond you get a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your anchusa in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°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 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Richmond

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