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.

A common way of determining when to plant zucchini is to look at the USDA zone info for Richmond.

Planting Calendar for Zucchini

Frost tolerance for zucchini:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's a bad idea to plant zucchini until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The last month that you can plant zucchini and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your zucchini may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your zucchini indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Richmond. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Richmond and it 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 prepared to cover your zucchini in the event of a 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.