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.

In Richmond you can determine when you can plant perilla by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

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

Perilla do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your perilla may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your perilla indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Richmond. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Richmond you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your perilla 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.