Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when to plant astilbe in Richmond by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Astilbe

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

Astilbe can survive 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 astilbe 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 astilbe and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your astilbe may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your astilbe indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Richmond. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Richmond it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your astilbe in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Richmond

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