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.

You will be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant primula by looking at the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Primula

Frost tolerance for primula:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Primula do well in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant primula 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 primula and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your primula may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your primula indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Richmond. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Richmond you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your primula 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.