One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant canna is to refer to the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Canna

Frost tolerance for canna:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since canna are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant canna and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your canna may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your canna indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Richmond. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Richmond is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Richmond you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your canna if you have a surprise 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.