One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 first chance to plant oleander in Richmond should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Oleander

Frost tolerance for oleander:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You can not plant oleander until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant oleander 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 oleander and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your oleander may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your oleander indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Richmond. You can 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 Richmond and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Richmond last frost occurs after January 31 so always be ready to protect your oleander if you have one of those late frosts.

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.