When To Start Seeds: Garden Planting Calendars For Every Zone

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Interested in growing a garden from seed, but aren’t sure when to start? Well, we did the tricky part for you! Our handy printable planting calendars show when to start seeds indoors, transplant seedlings outside, or directly sow seeds outdoors – for dozens of different vegetables, and schedules for every USDA hardiness growing zone. We keep ours in a sheet protector on our fridge for easy reference.

Even if you’re not starting from seed, you can still use our garden planting calendars to determine the best time to plant nursery-bought seedlings in your area too. Just follow the “transplant outside” dates.

First, let’s quickly go over a few concepts that will help you decipher how to make best use of your new planting charts.

Note: This post was originally published in January 2021.

In This Article
  1. Hardiness Zones and Frost Dates
  2. Type of Vegetable Or Seed
  3. The Importance of Good Timing
  4. How to Use Our Planting Calendars
  5. Seed Starting Charts: Planting Calendars for Every Zone
Two seed storage boxes are opened on a table, many seed packets, seed catalogues, and planting calendars are scattered around the table.
Grab your seed boxes, new planting calendars, and have fun planning!

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RELATED: Don’t miss our beginner’s guide on starting seeds indoors, with tips to grow big healthy seedlings from start through transplant time! Also see our favorite seed starting supplies, trays, and grow lights.

Hardiness Zones and Frost Dates

Your location or growing zone is the main factor used to determine when to start seeds indoors and plant things outside. USDA hardiness zones (aka planting zones or garden zones) are regions grouped by common low temperatures and average frost dates, ranging from zone 1 to zone 13.

Each growing zone is about 10 degrees warmer than the proceeding zone. The lower the zone number, the longer and colder the winters are. Zones are further subdivided by an “A” or “B” classification, such as zone 8a and 8b. There is a 5 degree temperature difference between these sub-zones, with A being the colder of the two.

If you aren’t sure what zone you’re in, use this handy zip code lookup tool to find out!

Once you know your hardiness zone, use the corresponding planting calendar below as a general guide. If you’re in between zones, feel free to reference two! Also, keep in mind that the hardiness zone system does NOT account for heat, humidity, precipitation, or other climatic factors.

Learn more about garden zones here, including their limitations and the 2023 map update.

A USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is shown with red, orange, and yellow coloration in warmer areas to green, blue and purple in the colder areas.

Type of Vegetable Or Seed

The next key for determining when to start seeds indoors is what types of seeds you are growing. For instance, it’s recommended to start tomato seeds inside about 6 to 8 weeks before your last spring frost date. On the other hand, zucchini seeds should be started indoors only 3 to 4 weeks prior to your last frost date. Each seed package should specify what’s best for that type of vegetable or plant.

As you can imagine, counting forward or backward several weeks to determine the perfect time to plant dozens of veggies quickly gets confusing and difficult to keep track of! Even more, some seed packages don’t include instructions for when to start seeds at all. That’s where our garden planting calendars save the day, packing all that information into one easy-to-follow page! 

The back of a seed packet from Botanical Interests is shown. The description of the vegetable is included along with when to sow seeds outside and when to sow seeds inside. The row spacing, maturity, thinning, seed depth, and days to emerge are also included as well.
Botanical Interests is great about including information on when to start seeds on their seed packages. Not all companies do, which leaves you guessing or looking elsewhere.

The Importance of Good Timing

Starting seeds indoors is much like Goldilocks and The Three Bears: not too early, not too late. With time and experience, you’ll figure out the timing that is “just right” for your garden.

If you’re an eager beaver and start seeds indoors too early, you’ll end up with huge seedlings that get unruly or root-bound before the weather is right to transplant them outside. They’ll take up a lot of space under your grow lights, and need water more frequently to stay healthy. Root-bound seedlings may become permanently stunted, so be sure to pot up large seedlings as needed! 

On the other hand, starting seeds or planting seedlings too late into the spring season can put your garden behind schedule, resulting in delayed maturity and harvests. This is especially a bummer in zones with extra short growing seasons!

DeannaCat is holding a seedling by a root ball that is going to be transplanted into a raised garden bed. The white roots streak across the outer regions of the ball like lightning set against a black sky. Learn when to plant seeds to give your vegetables to best chance for success.
A large seedling with a nice healthy root system, but not yet root bound.

How to Use Our Planting Calendars

Time Ranges

Our seed starting calendars offer a general timeframe or range, not an exact date, since every garden, year, A/B zones, and microclimate will vary slightly. It may take a few seasons of trial and error to figure out the best timing and plant varieties for your particular garden. We take notes year-to-year and adjust our schedule as needed.

Starting Indoors vs Direct Sow Outside

On the planting calendars, you’ll see some vegetables with a timeframe to “plant seeds outside” but not start inside. That’s because some plants don’t take kindly to transplanting, including root vegetables such as carrots, beets, radishes, and garlic, so it’s best to direct sow those seeds right in the garden. Other crops can be started indoors, but seem to thrive best when directly sown, like peas and beans.

Tender radish seedlings sprouting from the rich soil, reaching upwards towards the suns rays. The stems are purple with green leaves on top. Learn when to plant seeds for crops such as radish for succession planting.
Radishes are a prime example of a veggie you don’t want to start inside because they don’t transplant well.

Spring vs Fall Seed Starting

Another option you’ll see on the garden planting calendar is both a spring and fall planting time for one crop. However, you may find that spring or fall is more or less successful in your specific garden or climate, but not both. For instance, we can grow broccoli in spring-summer here in Coastal California (zone 9) but it would be too hot to do so in Phoenix, Arizona (also zone 9). Experiment and talk to other local gardeners in your area to see what they’ve had most success with! 

Succession Planting

Some vegetables include a fairly long window to plant seeds outdoors. This likely means you have the option to succession plant that crop, or continually sow seeds every few weeks over several months. This results in steady and staggered harvests of certain fast-growing crops. Radishes, bush beans, beets, baby greens, arugula, and even zucchini are prime examples of crops suitable for succession planting (depending on your unique weather). 

Transplanting Time

When it’s finally transplanting time, don’t rush! Be sure to properly harden off indoor-raised seedlings before planting them outside to prevent transplant shock. Choose a calm, mild day for planting, and then keep an eye on the weather forecast thereafter. Be prepared to protect tender sensitive seedlings from frost, heat waves, and pests as needed. See how we use garden hoops and row covers for all three!

Raised garden beds with hoops and row covers protect tender vegetable seedlings below.
Protecting young seedlings from birds and other pests after transplanting with garden hoops and insect netting. As needed, we can replace the netting with shade cloth or frost cloth too!

Seed Starting Charts: Planting Calendars for Every Zone

Below you can find garden planting calendars for every USDA hardiness zone. You can also save a PDF to print. I hope you find them helpful!

These planting calendars are really something special (to me at least 😅). I made each one lovingly by hand, previously only available to Homestead and Chill subscribers. I hope you’ll consider joining our community too; it’s totally free! Then you’ll get the full Garden Planning Toolkit with a companion planting chart, plot plans, and other awesome resources – and stay in touch with our weekly newsletter full of season garden tips, recipes and more.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter and receive a free Garden Planning Toolkit!

Zone 2 Garden Planting Calendar

Zone 2 Printable PDFSave
A planting calendar for Zone 2, it has many different vegetables lined up on the left side of the chart and all of the months of the year listed on the top of the chart. Each vegetable has different colored lines that correspond with when to start seeds inside, transplant outdoors, and plant seeds outside, along with corresponding last frost date and first frost date where applicable. The lines start left to right, showing what months you should do each particular task depending on the season and where you live.

Zone 3 Garden Planting Calendar

Zone 3 Printable PDFSave
Learn when to plant seeds by using this planting calendar for Zone 3, it has many different vegetables lined up on the left side of the chart and all of the months of the year listed on the top of the chart. Each vegetable has different colored lines that correspond with when to start seeds inside, transplant outdoors, and plant seeds outside, along with corresponding last frost date and first frost date where applicable. The lines start left to right, showing what months you should do each particular task depending on the season and where you live.

Zone 4 Garden Planting Calendar

Zone 4 Printable PDFSave
A planting calendar for Zone 4, it has many different vegetables lined up on the left side of the chart and all of the months of the year listed on the top of the chart. Each vegetable has different colored lines that correspond with when to start seeds inside, transplant outdoors, and plant seeds outside, along with corresponding last frost date and first frost date where applicable. The lines start left to right, showing what months you should do each particular task depending on the season and where you live.

Zone 5 Garden Planting Calendar

Zone 5 Printable PDFSave
A planting calendar for Zone 5, it has many different vegetables lined up on the left side of the chart and all of the months of the year listed on the top of the chart. Each vegetable has different colored lines that correspond with when to start seeds inside, transplant outdoors, and plant seeds outside, along with corresponding last frost date and first frost date where applicable. The lines start left to right, showing what months you should do each particular task depending on the season and where you live.

Zone 6 Garden Planting Calendar

Zone 6 Printable PDFSave
Learn when to plant seeds by using this planting calendar for Zone 6, it has many different vegetables lined up on the left side of the chart and all of the months of the year listed on the top of the chart. Each vegetable has different colored lines that correspond with when to start seeds inside, transplant outdoors, and plant seeds outside, along with corresponding last frost date and first frost date where applicable. The lines start left to right, showing what months you should do each particular task depending on the season and where you live.

Zone 7 Garden Planting Calendar

Zone 7 Printable PDFSave
A planting calendar for Zone 7, it has many different vegetables lined up on the left side of the chart and all of the months of the year listed on the top of the chart. Each vegetable has different colored lines that correspond with when to start seeds inside, transplant outdoors, and plant seeds outside, along with corresponding last frost date and first frost date where applicable. The lines start left to right, showing what months you should do each particular task depending on the season and where you live.

Zone 8 Garden Planting Calendar

Zone 8 Printable PDFSave
A planting calendar for Zone 8, it has many different vegetables lined up on the left side of the chart and all of the months of the year listed on the top of the chart. Each vegetable has different colored lines that correspond with when to start seeds inside, transplant outdoors, and plant seeds outside, along with corresponding last frost date and first frost date where applicable. The lines start left to right, showing what months you should do each particular task depending on the season and where you live.

Zone 9 Garden Planting Calendar

Zone 9 Printable PDFSave
Learn when to plant seeds by using this planting calendar for Zone 9, it has many different vegetables lined up on the left side of the chart and all of the months of the year listed on the top of the chart. Each vegetable has different colored lines that correspond with when to start seeds inside, transplant outdoors, and plant seeds outside, along with corresponding last frost date and first frost date where applicable. The lines start left to right, showing what months you should do each particular task depending on the season and where you live.

Zone 10 Garden Planting Calendar

Zone 10 Printable PDFSave
A planting calendar for Zone 10, it has many different vegetables lined up on the left side of the chart and all of the months of the year listed on the top of the chart. Each vegetable has different colored lines that correspond with when to start seeds inside, transplant outdoors, and plant seeds outside, along with corresponding last frost date and first frost date where applicable. The lines start left to right, showing what months you should do each particular task depending on the season and where you live.

Zone 11 and 12 Garden Planting Calendar

Zone 11-12 Printable PDFSave
Learn when to plant seeds by using this planting calendar for Zones 11-12, it has many different vegetables lined up on the left side of the chart and all of the months of the year listed on the top of the chart. Each vegetable has different colored lines that correspond with when to start seeds inside, transplant outdoors, and plant seeds outside, along with corresponding last frost date and first frost date where applicable. The lines start left to right, showing what months you should do each particular task depending on the season and where you live.

Thank you so much for tuning in today! I hope you love using your new planting calendars. Please let me know if you have any questions. Also, please feel free to spread the love by sharing this post. Have a successful growing season ahead!

Don’t miss these related posts:

  • A Beginner’s Guide to Using a Hobby Greenhouse
  • 9 Common Seed Starting Mistakes To Avoid
  • How Long Do Seeds Last? (Seed Viability Chart)
  • 13 Best Places to Buy Vegetable Seeds: Organic, Heirloom, Non-GMO
DeannaCat signature, keep on growing
Share on Pinterest Share on Facebook Share on X (Twitter) Share on Email Share on Reddit A row of harvested yellow onions with their greens still attached are laying out flat on a table. A bowl of roasted cauliflower soup is sitting on a wooden board. It is garnished with a few florets of roasted cauliflower, chopped chives, and seeds. A large blue pot of the soup is sitting just above the bowl.

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21 Comments

  • Greg Carleton

    May 9, 2024 at 9:27 am Reply

    Hi Deanna and Arron, I love your blog. I look everyday on Insta. 2 Questions. Is zone 9 and 9A the same for starting seeds? I have raised boxesthat that are 8 years old. I have noticed roots coming up from the ground. Is there anything I can do? It seems to stunt the plants growth. Thansks Greg

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      May 10, 2024 at 7:21 am Reply

      Hi Greg, thank you so much for following along and we appreciate the support! We just lumped each zone together and didn’t separate the a and b from each zone so you can follow along with the zone 9 planting calendar. In regards to your raised beds, do you know where the roots are coming from? Are there trees or shrubs nearby which you suspect may be the culprit? If so, that definitely could be an issue and would take a bit of work to remove them from your beds, we haven’t had to do this in our raised beds but we have had to saw off parts of shrub or tree roots in areas where we were planting fruit trees when we found roots running through our planting hole.

  • Mareike

    January 21, 2024 at 7:19 am Reply

    Hi Deanna and Aaron, I am a great fan of your page and love reading your articles. I was wondering, if there are similar areas of plant hardiness in Europe? I couldn’t find information about it online and was wondering if maybe you know a Sourcecode where I could information on this? Thank you in advance! Mareike from Germany

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      January 21, 2024 at 9:37 am Reply

      Hi Mareike, we are so glad you enjoy our site and appreciate your support! It seems the hardiness zones for Europe aren’t as well laid out, however, I found this map which may be helpful for you. If all else, you can likely convert your average low temperatures for your location from Celsius to Fahrenheit and find the appropriate zone that way. Hope that helps and thank you for following along from Germany, have fun growing!

      • Mareike

        February 26, 2024 at 10:53 pm Reply

        Thank you so much for your answer! I will look into the map you linked in your answer!

  • susan horst

    August 7, 2023 at 3:46 pm Reply

    May be a dumb question but I printed out your planting calendar / companion chart when we were living in So Cal. Ive just moved to MO and have found the planting calendar but can’t seem to find the companion planting guide and have lost it somewhere in the move. Is there a place where I canprint it out again?

    Appreciate your time

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      August 8, 2023 at 7:34 am Reply

      Hi Susan, congrats on the move and we hope you are enjoying Missouri! If you are a subscriber to Homestead and Chill, a link to the garden planning toolkit is at the footer of every weekly newsletter that gets sent out or you can download the chart at the bottom of our Companion Planting 101 (w/ Garden Companion Planting Chart) article. Hope that helps and have fun growing!

  • Jessica

    January 4, 2023 at 8:39 am Reply

    I fell upon your website last year, and love all the helpful tips! I started my seedlings last year inside and had so much fun, however, we were a bit late. We plan on starting earlier this year, but will be on vacation for a week about two weeks into planting the seedlings. Do you have any suggestions as to how to not kill everything with over/underwatering?? We can set the grow lights on a timer. thanks for sharing all your knowledge!

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      January 4, 2023 at 2:55 pm Reply

      Hi Jessica, it’s so great to hear you’ve found such joy in gardening and we are glad you found our site as well! As far as your situation is concerned, it sounds like you will be on vacation for a week once your seedlings are maybe a week or just over that in age. Thankfully at this stage, the seedlings need very little water but it’s hard to say for sure how long they can go without water as the temperature of their environment as well as the size of the containers they are in will play a role in how long your soil will stay moist. If someone is going to be watching your house, I think a single watering would be sufficient assuming that you water before you leave. For our seedling set up, we typically keep the seedlings in seedlings trays which we then use as a reservoir to underwater the seedlings. Hope that helps and have fun on your vacation, feel free to reach out if you have any other questions, good luck!

  • charlie

    July 31, 2022 at 2:30 pm Reply

    Is there a vegetable on the calendar that has a similar planting timeline to outdoor cannabis?

    Thanks for always answering my questions. You’ve helped our garden in so many ways!

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      July 31, 2022 at 3:19 pm Reply

      Hi Charlie, I would go with most summer type vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers which can all be planted outside around the same time and will grow throughout many months until the weather starts to turn cold. Squash is another option although its growth cycle is typically shorter so we can usually get two crops of summer squash throughout the summer. Hope that helps and have fun in the garden.

  • Allison

    January 7, 2022 at 11:58 am Reply

    We’ve been following you for years an absolutely love your blog with all the wonderful resources. Just started our garden at our new home we bought in October. Since I already have a subscription to the blog how can I go about getting the garden toolkit print out? This would be a huge help as we are building out greenhouse to gear up for the Spring. Thank you for all that you do!

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      January 8, 2022 at 8:00 am Reply

      Hi Allison, congratulations on your new home, that is so exciting! The garden planning toolkit is in the footer of every weekly newsletter, just check out a past newsletter and you will find the downloadable garden planning toolkit. Thank you for your support and good luck with your new home and garden!

  • Eden

    August 20, 2021 at 6:02 am Reply

    As a beginner, I found this article really helpful and motivate me more to start my gardening journey using garden planting calendars. Thank you for sharing these words.

  • I'm Jewlybug

    March 10, 2021 at 9:43 am Reply

    I’d like to start my seeds outdoors (zone 5) but have to deal with VERY pushy squirells. I want to tent with plastic for warmth & retained moisture. Should I poke holes for ventilation?

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      March 10, 2021 at 2:56 pm Reply

      Hi Jewlybug, air circulation is very much needed for healthy seedlings and plants. It would be best if you were able to open part of the tent as one would a door for even better air flow. When we lived in Northern California, there were a lot of gray squirrels that would get into the garden, we found that having even a 1 ft. tall barrier (fencing) around our garden area was enough to keep them out. Though I am not sure of the exact squirrels in your area and their willingness to search out food at the expense of your garden. Let us know how it works out for you and good luck!

  • Melissa E

    January 16, 2021 at 1:07 pm Reply

    Thank you so much for this wonderful chart.You both have inspired me to grow more flowers with my veg. What is your go to for when to plant flowers. Last year I started my sunflowers too late and they didn’t make it through our scorching summer. I’m in zone 10, in So. Cali. 🙂

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      January 18, 2021 at 2:35 pm Reply

      Hello Melissa, sunflowers sprout and start growing rather quickly. Since you are in Southern California, start sprouting flower seeds now and they will be more than ready to be planted out by early to mid March. Good luck!

  • Cee gee

    January 10, 2021 at 7:22 pm Reply

    Would you recommend growing in a galvanized metal water trough? I purchased a few of them to use as raised bed, we have a major gopher issue here !

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      January 11, 2021 at 1:49 pm Reply

      Hello Cee gee, you should be good to go as long as you drill enough holes in the bottom of the trough to make sure your beds get enough drainage. Metal raised beds may heat up or cool down the soil more in hot and cold weather which can have an adverse reaction on your plants though it may be minimal enough. If you haven’t checked out these articles yet, I would look into some of them further: How to Build a Raised Garden Bed: Step-by-Step Guide and Raised Garden Beds vs. In-Ground Beds: Pros & Cons. Let us know if you have any other questions and thanks for reading!

    • Jennifer

      January 18, 2021 at 12:14 pm Reply

      We actually have 6 large water troughs that we use for raised beds. Make sure you have lots (20-30) drainage holes in the bottom. Our all sit on top of concrete blocks for good drainage. WE also oput in about 8-10 inches of 1″ rocks before adding our soil. Good Luck! Happy Gardening.

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Hey! I'm Deanna, aka @deannacat3. My goal is to help inspire others to lead more healthy, sustainable lives by sharing tips to make gardening and homesteading easy and enjoyable ~ so you can learn and grow along! Read more...

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