One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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 a good idea to plant pyrethrum is to use the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Pyrethrum

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

Pyrethrum tend to make it in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pyrethrum 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 pyrethrum and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your pyrethrum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your pyrethrum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Richmond and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Richmond last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your pyrethrum if you have 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.