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 earliest that you can plant hosta in Richmond can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Hosta

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

You can plant hosta a little earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant hosta in Richmond is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant hosta and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hosta may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your hosta indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Richmond the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Richmond is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Richmond it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your hosta in the event of a surprise 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.