Vegetable planting calendar for your zone
When to start seeds, plant out, sow for fall and pick, for 43 vegetables, herbs and flowers, counted from your own frost dates.
Typical last spring frost Apr 13 · first fall frost Oct 27. Adjust
How to read the planting calendar
Every date on this chart is counted from one reference point: your typical last spring frost. That is how seed packets and university extension calendars work too, because a pea and a tomato respond to the same frost in opposite ways.
- Blue: start indoors. Slow crops like peppers and onions need 8–10 weeks under lights before they can go out. Details on the seed-starting calendar.
- Clay: sow or plant outside. Long bars mean you can keep sowing in small batches. That's succession planting.
- Striped: sow for fall. A second window for crops that prefer cool weather.
- Green: harvest. Based on days to maturity. Real harvests move with the weather and variety.
Cool-season vs warm-season crops
Cool-season crops (peas, lettuce, spinach, brassicas, roots, onions) germinate in cold soil, tolerate light frost and turn bitter or bolt in summer heat. They go in early and again in late summer.
Warm-season crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, corn, cucumbers, squash, basil) are killed by frost and sulk in cold soil. Rushing them out rarely gains anything; a tomato planted into 50°F soil often catches up with nothing.
Old almanacs also time sowings by the moon, sowing leafy crops as it waxes and roots as it wanes. Tempted to time sowings to a waxing moon? First see what a phase actually is: ahaboo has a hands-on explainer showing it's simply how much of the sunlit half faces us.
Questions gardeners ask
When should I plant vegetables?
Cool-season crops such as peas, spinach and radishes go in 3–6 weeks before your last spring frost. Warm-season crops such as tomatoes, peppers, beans and squash go in 1–2 weeks after it, once the soil has warmed. The chart above shows each crop for your zone.
Can I plant a second round for fall?
Yes. Striped bars show fall sowings. Count back from your first fall frost by the crop's days to maturity plus about two weeks, because growth slows as days shorten.
How accurate is a planting calendar by zone?
It is a starting point. Zones group areas by winter cold, and two gardens in the same zone can have frost dates weeks apart. Enter your own frost dates on the frost dates page and the whole calendar shifts to match.
What is soil temperature and why does it matter?
Seeds germinate by soil warmth, not air. Beans and corn rot in soil below about 50–60°F, while peas and spinach germinate in soil as cool as 40°F. A cheap soil thermometer settles the question on the day.
Does planting by the moon work?
Moon-phase planting is an old tradition in many farming almanacs. There is little controlled research showing it changes yields; frost dates and soil temperature matter far more.