One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Richmond should be used to figure out when you can plant sweet williams.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Williams

Frost tolerance for sweet williams:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since sweet williams are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Richmond the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Richmond and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Richmond it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your sweet williams if you have a 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.