Your personal planting calendar
Enter your zip code to see seed-start, transplant, harvest, and care timelines for the top 40 vegetables — based on your USDA hardiness zone.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find a vegetable planting calendar by zip code?
Type your 5-digit US zip code in the box above. We map the zip to its USDA hardiness zone, look up the average last spring frost and first fall frost for that zone, and calculate seed-start, transplant, and harvest windows for 40 vegetables. Nothing to install, no sign-up, and the result has its own shareable URL like botanotes.com/planting-calendar/97202.
What should I plant this month?
That depends entirely on your zone. In zones 3–5, late winter is indoor seed-starting season for tomatoes, peppers, onions, and brassicas, with direct sowing from late April. In zones 6–7, indoor sowing starts in February and the garden fills from mid-April. In zones 8–10 you can plant cool-season greens and roots from September through February, then warm-season crops from March. Your zip-code calendar shows exactly which bars fall in the current month.
How is the planting calendar calculated?
We look up your USDA hardiness zone from your zip code to estimate the average last spring frost and first fall frost. Each vegetable's seed-start, transplant, and harvest windows are calculated relative to those dates using cooperative-extension planting guidelines.
Why is transplanting marked 'not recommended' for some vegetables?
Root crops like carrots, beets, radishes, and turnips dislike root disturbance — they fork and stunt when moved. Legumes (beans, peas) and corn also do best when direct-sown. Those rows show only direct-sow and harvest bars.
Is this planting calendar free?
Yes — completely free, no sign-up needed. Print it, share it, or bookmark it. BotaNotes offers an optional 15-day trial of our full garden tracking app if you want personalized AI reminders.
Which vegetables are included?
The top 40 most-grown home vegetables: tomato, pepper, cucumber, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, kale, carrot, beet, radish, onion, garlic, potato, sweet potato, green bean, pea, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, swiss chard, arugula, bok choy, eggplant, summer squash, winter squash, pumpkin, watermelon, cantaloupe, okra, leek, scallion, turnip, parsnip, celery, asparagus, artichoke, fennel, and kohlrabi.
My zip code didn't work — what now?
We support US zip codes within the continental US, Alaska, and Hawaii. If your zip prefix isn't found, try the nearest larger town's zip code. Frost dates are regional averages — adjust ±1–2 weeks for your microclimate.
What you'll get
Zone-accurate timing
Frost dates based on USDA hardiness zones — no more guessing when to start seeds.
40 vegetables covered
From tomatoes to asparagus — including 'don't transplant' warnings where it matters.
Printable & shareable
One-click print stylesheet — pin it on your garden shed door.
How a vegetable planting calendar by zip code works
Every planting date in a garden calendar is really an offset from two numbers: your average last spring frost and your average first fall frost. Tomatoes go outside two weeks after the last frost. Peas go in six weeks before it. Garlic goes in four weeks before the first fall frost. Get those two dates right and the other 38 crops fall into place.
Your zip code is the fastest way to those dates. We map the zip prefix to its USDA hardiness zone (the 2023 map), pull the regional frost averages for that zone, and shift all 40 crop windows accordingly — indoor sowing, direct sowing, transplant, and harvest. That's why a calendar for a Portland zip looks nothing like one for Minneapolis, even though both are "spring gardens."
What the four colored bars mean
- Start indoors — sow under lights or on a warm windowsill; counted backward from your last frost.
- Direct sow — seed straight into garden soil once it has warmed enough for that crop.
- Transplant — move hardened-off seedlings outdoors. Missing on crops that resent root disturbance.
- Harvest — the realistic picking window based on days to maturity, ending at first frost for tender crops.
Adjusting for your own yard
Zone frost dates are regional averages, so treat them as a starting point. Shift everything about a week later if you garden in a low spot, a north-facing slope, or at higher elevation than the nearest town. Shift a week earlier for a south-facing wall, an urban heat island, or raised beds that warm quickly. A $10 soil thermometer beats any calendar for warm-season crops — sweet potatoes and melons want 65°F soil regardless of the date.