One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

It's possible to determine when you can plant rosemary by referring to the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Rosemary

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

Rosemary can survive in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Richmond is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Richmond last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your rosemary 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.