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

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant begonias is to use the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Begonias

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

Begonias do not do well in cold weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant begonias 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 begonias and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your begonias may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your begonias indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Richmond. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is 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 February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your begonias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Richmond

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