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.

The first opportunity to plant stevia in Richmond should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

Frost tolerance for stevia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant stevia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant stevia 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your stevia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your stevia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Richmond and it is different every year. Half of the time in Richmond you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your stevia 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.