Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Richmond it's possible to estimate when to plant caladium.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

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

You can not plant caladium until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant caladium 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 caladium and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your caladium may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your caladium indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Richmond you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your caladium if you have one of those late frosts.

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.