One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

You should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant cilantro by referring to the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Cilantro

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

You can plant cilantro just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant cilantro 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 cilantro and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cilantro may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your cilantro indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Richmond. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Richmond is an average and 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 just be sure to be ready to cover your cilantro 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.