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.

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant dusty miller is to check out the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Dusty Miller

Frost tolerance for dusty miller:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Dusty Miller do well in cold which means that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant dusty miller 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 dusty miller and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dusty miller may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your dusty miller indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Richmond. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Richmond is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Richmond there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your dusty miller if you have a surprise late frost.

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.