One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant chrysanthemums is to look at the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemums

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

You can plant chrysanthemums slightly earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

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

The last month that you can plant chrysanthemums and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your chrysanthemums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chrysanthemums indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Richmond. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Richmond last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your chrysanthemums if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Richmond

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