One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The USDA zone info for Richardson can be reviewed to determine when it's the best time to plant tomatos.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

Frost tolerance for tomatos:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since tomatos require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Richardson 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 tomatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your tomatos may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Richardson and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Richardson it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your tomatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richardson

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 Richardson

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