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.

The USDA zone info for Richmond can be reviewed to determine when you can plant platycodon.

Planting Calendar for Platycodon

Frost tolerance for platycodon:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since platycodon are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Richmond the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Richmond may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Richmond last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your platycodon in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.