Richmond, VA · zone 7b · ~211 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Richmond.
In Richmond, the typical last spring frost lands around Apr 5 and the first fall frost around Nov 2, giving you about 211 frost-free days. Cool-season crops go out before the last frost; warm-season crops wait until after it.
The 2026 windows
Sow dates for Richmond, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Mar 1 to May 1 | Apr 12 to Jun 12 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Feb 26 to Apr 12 | Aug 19 to Oct 18 |
| Carrot | — | Feb 26 to Mar 31 | Aug 7 to Sep 2 |
| Bush Bean | — | Apr 5 to May 26 | Jul 19 to Aug 21 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 12 to Jul 12 | Jul 2 to Aug 2 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 10 to May 1 | Apr 21 to Jun 12 | — |
| Kale | Jan 15 to Feb 12 | Feb 26 to Mar 26 | Aug 2 to Sep 17 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 12 to Mar 26 | Aug 19 to Oct 7 |
Richmond sits in Zone 7b, but two gardens in the same city can be a week or two apart. The planner works from your ZIP code's frost dates, not the zone, so the dates land right for your block, not the metro average.
Build your Richmond garden plan.
Tell the free planner what you want to eat and who you're feeding. It returns plant counts, spacing, and frost-safe sow dates for ZIP 23219 in about 60 seconds.