One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant rock cress is to look at the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Rock Cress

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

Rock Cress do well in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant rock cress 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 rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your rock cress may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your rock cress indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Richmond the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond is an average 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 make sure that you are ready to protect your rock cress 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.