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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Richmond you will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant hamelia.

Planting Calendar for Hamelia

Frost tolerance for hamelia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since hamelia are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant hamelia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hamelia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hamelia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Richmond. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Richmond there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your hamelia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Richmond

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Richmond.