Garden planting calendar

How to use the garden planting calendar

Plan indoor sowing, transplanting, direct sowing, fall planting, and harvest windows for selected plants. Use a USDA zone for typical frost dates, or enter your own local frost dates for a more customized calendar.

1. Choose USDA zone or My frost dates as the frost date source.
2. Select a USDA zone and year, or enter your last spring frost and first fall frost.
3. Search the plant list and check the plants you want to include. Use Select all or Clear when helpful.
4. Read the colored windows, frost-free day count, warnings, and key dates.
5. Print the calendar or download it as a Calendar file (.ics).

What to enter

Frost date source

Choose USDA zone for typical dates, or My frost dates to enter your own last spring and first fall frost dates.

USDA zone

Defaults to zone 6b. Available options show each zone's minimum and maximum temperature range in °F.

Year

Defaults to the current year. The field is set for years 2000 through 2100 and rounds entered values to a whole year.

Last spring frost

Enter the date of your final expected spring frost. This is prefilled from the selected USDA zone when you switch to My frost dates.

First fall frost

Enter the date of your first expected fall frost. This is also prefilled from the selected zone and year.

Search plants

Filter the plant list by name. Check or uncheck plant names to change the calendar.

Plants

The default selection contains seven plants: tomato, pepper, lettuce, carrot, bean, basil, and garlic. Select all and Clear change the full selection.

Example: customize a zone 6b calendar

Leave USDA zone set to 6b and keep the current year, or choose My frost dates to start with the dates prefilled from zone 6b. Replace those dates with your local last spring frost and first fall frost. In the plant list, use Search plants to find tomato, then clear or uncheck plants you do not want. The calendar updates to show the selected plant's windows across the months. Review the key dates, then choose Print or Calendar file (.ics).

How the planting calendar works

In USDA zone mode, the tool gets typical last spring and first fall frost dates for the selected zone and year. In My frost dates mode, it uses the two dates you enter. Each plant's windows are positioned from the last spring frost using that crop's typical number of weeks before or after frost. Harvest begins after the plant's days to maturity. The calendar also reports frost-free days, displays warnings when provided, and uses the year from the selected frost dates for the custom-date view.

Reading the results

The calendar shows one row for each selected plant and a month grid for the displayed year. Colored bars mark the planting or harvest windows; use the phase legend to identify each type. The summary shows frost-free days, last frost, and first frost. The Key dates section lists every window for each plant and any notes after the first note. The first note is shown beside the plant name in its calendar row. If no plants are selected, the calendar area asks you to pick at least one plant.

Limitations and common mistakes

• Frost dates from a USDA zone are typical dates, not a guarantee for your specific property. The page includes a frost-date disclaimer.
• The windows do not account for every local condition. Soil temperature, plant variety, and microclimate can change timing.
• The tool uses the plant data available in its list. It does not provide a field for adding a custom plant or changing a crop's built-in timing.
• Entering dates that the calendar cannot use produces an error message; check that both frost-date fields contain valid dates.

Frequently asked questions