One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Richmond it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant tarragon.

Planting Calendar for Tarragon

Frost tolerance for tarragon:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Tarragon do well in very little cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Richmond. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Richmond there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to cover your tarragon if you have 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.