Planting Calendars by Zone

Every planting date on this site is driven by your USDA hardiness zone. Enter your ZIP code in the picker at the top of the page and we'll take you straight to yours, or pick it from the list below.

• Zone 2a & 2bLast frost ~May 20, first frost ~Sep 1
• Zone 3a & 3bLast frost ~May 30, first frost ~Sep 5
• Zone 4a & 4bLast frost ~May 15, first frost ~Sep 20
• Zone 5a & 5bLast frost ~May 10, first frost ~Oct 5
• Zone 6a & 6bLast frost ~Apr 25, first frost ~Oct 15
• Zone 7a & 7bLast frost ~Apr 10, first frost ~Oct 25
• Zone 8a & 8bLast frost ~Mar 25, first frost ~Nov 10
• Zone 9a & 9bLast frost ~Feb 15, first frost ~Dec 5
• Zone 10a & 10bLast frost ~Jan 30, first frost ~Dec 20
• Zone 11a & 11bFrost-free year round
• Zone 12a & 12bFrost-free year round
• Zone 13a & 13bFrost-free year round

Each calendar covers both halves of its zone. The a/b split ranks winter minimum temperature in 5°F steps, and the frost dates we publish are one representative pair per zone number, so 6a and 6b would show identical windows.

Frost dates set the calendar; the zone picks the frost dates

A hardiness zone is a winter low. Zone 6 means the coldest night of an average year falls between -10°F and 0°F, which decides whether a perennial makes it to spring. Vegetables and annual flowers care about something else: the frost-free stretch between the last spring frost and the first fall one. So each calendar takes its zone's frost dates and counts from them. Tomato seed goes under lights six weeks before the last frost and the plants go outside two weeks after it. Peas go straight into cold soil six weeks before. Radishes go in four weeks before and are ready in about 25 days.

Indoor, outdoor and harvest dates for every crop

Each zone calendar gives every crop up to three dates: when to start seed indoors, when to sow or transplant outside, and when the first harvest should come. Crops that handle cold, such as kale, carrots and lettuce, get a second, fall window counted back from the first frost, and garlic and spring bulbs get their fall planting months. Tender crops sit a week or two after the average last frost rather than on it, because an average date means some years frost comes later. Keep a row cover handy for those years.

If you'd rather start from the month, each month has its own list of what goes in now, zone by zone:January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

Where these zones come from

ZIP-code to hardiness-zone mapping is derived from the official 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map ZIP code files published by thePRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University, covering 40,502 ZIP codes.

This is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. We aggregate those 40,502 ZIP codes down to their 915 three-digit prefixes so the lookup can run instantly in your browser without downloading the whole dataset. Two thirds of those prefixes span more than one half-zone, so we take each prefix's most common zone and break ties toward the colder one. If you live near a boundary (a valley floor, a ridge, a coastline), check theofficial USDA map for your exact address.

The frost dates above are one representative pair per zone, not a reading for your town. Zones are ranked by winter minimum temperature, which is not the same thing as growing-season length: interior Alaska pairs brutal winters with warm summers, which is why zone 2 here shows a longer season than zone 3. Treat these as a starting point and check your local extension office.

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Free planting calendars for every USDA hardiness zone: when to start seeds indoors, when to direct-sow, and when to expect a harvest.

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