Tool — Form GL-6

Planting Calendar by ZIP Code

Nearly every planting instruction you'll read is written as an offset from your last frost — "start indoors 6–8 weeks before last frost", "sow 2 weeks after". This calendar does that arithmetic for you: enter a ZIP code and it converts every offset for 56 crops into real dates for your zone.

Your planting calendar

Form GL‑6
Planting calendar
Crop Start indoors Plant outside Fall sowing Harvest from

Get reminded at the right week

Free

Planting dates are only useful if you remember them. Tell us your zone and we'll email you when it's time to start seeds indoors, when your last frost is close, and when the autumn sowing window opens — dated for your climate, not someone else's.

Seasonal sends only — roughly one a month, more in spring. No selling your address, unsubscribe in one click. Don't know your zone?

Calendars by hardiness zone

Prefer a fixed page you can bookmark or print? There's one for every zone.

How to read the calendar

These are planning dates, not instructions. They come from median frost normals for a whole hardiness zone. Your own garden's records beat them every time — if you have been growing in the same spot for a few years, trust what you have seen over what this table says.

Common questions

How is this calendar calculated?
Every date derives from two things: your zone's median frost dates, and each crop's recommended offset from frost as published by university extension services. Nothing is hand-written. If your last frost is April 10 and tomatoes want starting 6–8 weeks before it, the calendar shows February 13 – February 27.
What can I plant right now?
Switch the "Show" selector to "What I can plant this month" and the calendar filters to crops whose sowing or transplanting window is open in the current month for your zone.
Should I plant exactly on the last frost date?
No. The last frost date is a median — half of years the last freeze comes after it. For tender crops like tomatoes, peppers, basil and squash, most gardeners wait one to two weeks past it, or plant on schedule and keep row cover handy for a cold night.
Why do fall planting dates count backwards from first frost?
Because a fall crop has to reach maturity before cold stops it. You take the crop's days to maturity, add a couple of weeks for the shorter, cooler days of autumn slowing growth, and count back from your first frost date.
Can I trust the ZIP code to zone lookup?
It is a good approximation and a poor certainty. We map your 3-digit ZIP prefix to the dominant hardiness zone for that area, which is reliable in flat uniform regions and least reliable in mountains and along coastlines. Check the zone it picks, and override it if you know better. See methodology.