What to Plant and When: A Region-and-Season Planting Guide

Two Kinds of Crops

Almost every vegetable falls into one of two groups based on the weather it likes. Once you know which group a plant belongs to, you already know roughly when to plant it.

Cool-season crops

These plants grow best when the air is cool, around 40 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. They can handle a light frost and often taste sweeter after a cold night. You plant them in early spring or in late summer for a fall harvest. If it gets too hot, many of them "bolt," which means they shoot up a flower stalk and turn bitter.

Common examples: lettuce, spinach, kale, peas, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, radishes, and beets.

Warm-season crops

These plants need warm soil and warm air. They are damaged or killed by frost, so you only plant them after the danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed up. They love the long, hot days of summer.

Common examples: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, beans, corn, and melons.

Why this matters

If you plant a warm-season crop too early, a late frost can kill it. If you plant a cool-season crop too late, summer heat will ruin it. Matching the crop to the season is the simplest way to grow more food with less trouble.

Your Local Numbers Matter Most

A planting tip that works in one town may fail in another. Two simple pieces of information make almost everything else clear: your growing zone and your frost dates.

Growing zone

A growing zone (in the United States, a USDA Hardiness Zone) is a number based on how cold your winters usually get. Lower numbers are colder. It mostly tells you which perennial plants and fruit trees can survive your winter. You can look up your zone for free by entering your ZIP code on the USDA map.

Frost dates

For vegetables, frost dates matter even more. There are two:

• Last spring frost: the average date when frost stops in spring. After this, it is usually safe to plant warm-season crops.
• First fall frost: the average date when frost returns in autumn. This tells you how much time is left in the season.

The number of frost-free days between these two dates is your growing season. A short season (90 days) limits what you can grow; a long season (200+ days) lets you grow more and replant several times.

How to use them

Most seed packets say things like "sow 2 weeks before last frost" or "transplant after danger of frost." Once you know your own last frost date, you just count forward or backward from it. Always treat printed dates as a starting point and watch your local weather.

Planting Through the Year

Below is a general calendar. The exact timing depends on your frost dates, so think of "early spring" as a few weeks before your last frost, and slide everything earlier if you live somewhere warm or later if you live somewhere cold.

Adapt it to you

In a hot southern region, "winter" may be the best time to grow lettuce and peas, while summer is too hot for them. In a cold northern region, your whole calendar squeezes into a shorter window. The seasons are a guide; your frost dates set the real schedule.

Don't Plant It All at Once

If you plant all your lettuce on the same day, it will all be ready on the same week, and much of it may spoil before you can eat it. Succession planting solves this.

Three easy ways to do it

• Stagger sowings: Sow a short row of fast crops like lettuce, radishes, or beans every 2 to 3 weeks. You get a steady supply instead of one big flood.
• Replant empty space: When you pull out an early crop like peas in summer, plant something else in that spot, such as bush beans or fall carrots.
• Follow cool with warm, then cool again: Spring lettuce, then summer tomatoes in the same bed, then fall spinach. The bed works all year.

Keep the season in mind

For late-season sowings, count backward from your first fall frost. Look at the "days to maturity" on the seed packet and add a couple of weeks, because plants grow slower as days shorten and cool. If there isn't enough time left, choose a faster crop instead.

Succession planting works best when you also feed the soil with compost between plantings, since each crop uses up nutrients.

Work With Your Climate

Beyond frost, the overall feel of your region matters. Two common types are hot-and-dry and cool-and-wet. Here is how to plant well in each.

Hot and dry regions

Summers are long, hot, and short on rain. Many cool-season crops struggle in the summer heat, so people often grow them in fall, winter, and early spring instead.

• Good summer crops: okra, peppers, eggplant, melons, sweet potatoes, and southern peas, which all handle heat well.
• Helpful habits: water deeply but less often, add mulch to keep soil moist, and give plants some afternoon shade.

Cool and wet regions

Summers are mild and there is plenty of rain. Heat-loving crops may ripen slowly, while cool-season crops thrive.

• Good crops: peas, lettuce, kale, cabbage, broccoli, potatoes, and other leafy greens that enjoy cool, damp weather.
• Helpful habits: choose early-ripening tomato varieties, improve drainage in soggy beds, and watch for slugs and mildew that like dampness.

The big lesson

Picking crops that already like your climate is far easier than forcing crops that don't. Ask local gardeners or your nearest university extension office what grows best where you live.

Two Ways to Start a Plant

You can either start seeds indoors and move the young plants outside later, or plant seeds directly in the garden. Each method suits different crops.

Start indoors when...

The crop needs a long, warm season and your season is short. Starting these inside, a few weeks before your last frost, gives them a head start.

• Good for indoor starting: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, broccoli, and cabbage.
• Move them outside only after the frost danger has passed, and "harden off" first by setting them outdoors for a little longer each day for about a week.

Direct sow when...

The crop grows fast or does not like having its roots disturbed. These do best planted right where they will grow.

• Good for direct sowing: carrots, radishes, beans, peas, corn, beets, and squash.
• Sow at the depth the packet says, keep the soil moist until sprouts appear, and thin crowded seedlings so each has room.

Which should you choose?

If you have a short season or want a head start on summer favorites, indoor starting helps. If you want less fuss and the crop sprouts easily outside, direct sowing is simpler. Many gardeners do both, depending on the crop and the time of year.