Cities

What to plant where you live

Zone numbers lie at the city scale. A Seattle 8b is not an Austin 8b. These pages use a representative ZIP and the same matcher as the homepage.

Chicago, IL
Zone 6a
Mid-April last frost, mid-October first frost. Short-season tomatoes and a serious fall greens habit.
New York, NY
Zone 7b
A long balcony season if you have sun. Fire escapes and roof decks out-buy backyards here.
Boston, MA
Zone 6b
Cool spring, reliable fall. Peas and kale outperform eggplant.
Philadelphia, PA
Zone 7b
Long enough for real tomatoes. Still too short to waste April on a catalog.
Washington, DC, DC
Zone 7a
Hot summers. Lettuce is a spring and fall crop, not a July one.
Atlanta, GA
Zone 8a
Two vegetable seasons if you respect July. Tomatoes in spring, greens from September on.
Miami, FL
Zone 11a
Frost is a rumor. Heat and wet are the constraints. Sow what likes warm nights.
Nashville, TN
Zone 7b
A long summer if you start indoors. Fall greens are not optional.
Detroit, MI
Zone 6b
Short, intense. Early Girl, Provider beans, and a heat mat in March.
Minneapolis, MN
Zone 5a
Count days. 54-day tomatoes, not Brandywine. Fall is kale and garlic.
Milwaukee, WI
Zone 5b
Lake Michigan slows both ends of the year. Short-season varieties, always.
St. Louis, MO
Zone 7a
A long, hot middle. Spring and fall are the vegetable months that taste like something.
Kansas City, MO
Zone 6a
Prairie swings. Last frost in April, first in October, storms in between.
Dallas, TX
Zone 8b
Tomatoes in spring. A second life in fall. Summer is for heat-lovers and irrigation.
Houston, TX
Zone 9a
Mild winters, brutal wet heat. Timing beats variety collecting.
Austin, TX
Zone 8b
A long season with a vicious middle. Fall gardens here outproduce spring ones.
Denver, CO
Zone 6a
High and bright. Intense sun, cold nights, a short frost-free window.
Phoenix, AZ
Zone 9b
The calendar is upside down. Grow in fall, winter, and spring. Survive summer.
Seattle, WA
Zone 8b
Mild winters, cool summers. Kale and peas love you. Peppers need a wall or a greenhouse.
Portland, OR
Zone 8b
A greens city. Start warm crops indoors and give them the sunniest wall.
San Francisco, CA
Zone 10a
Fog is the frost. Cool-summer crops win. Heat-lovers want a microclimate.
Los Angeles, CA
Zone 10b
Year-round sowing if you water. Pick varieties for flavor, not days-to-maturity.
San Diego, CA
Zone 10b
The easiest outdoor calendar in the country. Don't waste it on one crop.
Salt Lake City, UT
Zone 7a
High desert. Bright sun, cold nights, a season that starts late and ends fast.
Cleveland, OH
Zone 6b
Lake Erie holds the spring. Short-season tomatoes and a greens habit that ignores July.
Pittsburgh, PA
Zone 6b
Hills and hollows move frost a week. Match the variety to the slope, not just the ZIP.
Cincinnati, OH
Zone 6b
A longer Ohio summer than Cleveland. Still not a reason to skip the indoor start.
Columbus, OH
Zone 6a
Honest zone 6. Indoor tomatoes, two lettuce seasons, garlic in October.
Indianapolis, IN
Zone 6a
A textbook Midwest calendar. Heat mat in March, greens in August, garlic in October.
Charlotte, NC
Zone 8a
Two vegetable years if July is a pause. Spring tomatoes, fall brassicas.
Raleigh, NC
Zone 8a
Long season, humid nights. Space plants and grow a fall garden that is not an afterthought.
Baltimore, MD
Zone 7b
City heat on a Mid-Atlantic calendar. Peppers ripen. Cilantro bolts. Sow it twice.
Richmond, VA
Zone 7b
Hot enough for real peppers. Cool enough for garlic. Plan around July, not through it.
Louisville, KY
Zone 7a
A long, wet-warm middle. Spring and fall taste better than August.
Memphis, TN
Zone 8a
A Southern two-season city. Tomatoes early. Greens when the heat breaks.
New Orleans, LA
Zone 9b
Mild winters, wet heat. The vegetable year runs fall through spring.
Tampa, FL
Zone 10a
Frost is a guest. Grow tomatoes in the cool months and greens whenever you water.
Orlando, FL
Zone 9b
A long warm year. Succession is the whole game. Winter is a growing season.
San Antonio, TX
Zone 9a
Two springs around a brutal middle. Fall gardens here are not optional.
Oklahoma City, OK
Zone 7a
Wind, swings, and a real winter. Start indoors. Stake everything.
Omaha, NE
Zone 5b
Counted weeks. Early Girl, Provider beans, kale, garlic. A heat mat is not optional.
Des Moines, IA
Zone 5b
A serious winter and a sprint of summer. Indoor starts are how fruit happens.
Madison, WI
Zone 5b
Cooler than the map in May. Peas and kale first. Fruit after the soil actually warms.
Buffalo, NY
Zone 6a
Lake-effect spring is late. Short-season tomatoes and greens that do not wait for June.
Providence, RI
Zone 6b
Coastal New England. Slow to warm, slow to freeze. Two lettuce seasons and a cherry tomato.
Hartford, CT
Zone 6b
A New England counted season. Start tomatoes indoors. Sow greens twice.
Albuquerque, NM
Zone 7b
High and dry. Intense sun, cold nights, irrigation as a season.
Boise, ID
Zone 7a
High desert with a real winter. Start indoors. Mulch. Garlic earns its keep.
Las Vegas, NV
Zone 9a
The calendar flips. Grow fall through spring. Summer is shade cloth and survival.
Tucson, AZ
Zone 9a
Two mild seasons around a furnace. Fall is the planting you actually eat.
Sacramento, CA
Zone 9b
Hot Central Valley summers. Spring and fall are the vegetable months that taste like something.
Oakland, CA
Zone 10a
Bay mild. Fog and hills write a different calendar than Sacramento.
Honolulu, HI
Zone 11a
No frost. Heat, salt, and rain set the rules. Sow what likes warm nights.
Anchorage, AK
Zone 4b
A short, bright summer. 54-day tomatoes under a light, kale that does not quit, garlic if you mulch hard.
Charleston, SC
Zone 8b
Long, humid, two seasons. Fall gardens here are the ones that behave.
Portland, ME
Zone 6a
A short coastal Maine season. Peas, kale, short-season tomatoes, garlic. Count every week.