One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The earliest that you can plant stevia in Richmond should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

Frost tolerance for stevia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since stevia require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant stevia 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your stevia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your stevia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them 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.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Richmond it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your stevia in the event of 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.