One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant flowering tobacco is to check out the USDA zone info for Richland.

Planting Calendar for Flowering Tobacco

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

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

The earliest that you can plant flowering tobacco in Richland 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 flowering tobacco and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your flowering tobacco may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your flowering tobacco indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Richland. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Richland and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Richland last frost occurs after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your flowering tobacco in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Richland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Richland

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Richland.