Spring Vegetable Gardening in the USA

Two groups of crops, two start dates

Spring planting sorts vegetables by how much cold they take. Hardy cool-season crops go in before the last frost; warm-season crops go in after it. Each guide says which group a crop belongs to:

• Early: peas, spinach, lettuce, radishes, onions, broccoli
• After the frost: tomatoes, cucumbers, bush beans, sweet corn, squash, eggplant

Your zone versus your frost date

Your hardiness zone is a winter number, built from a 30-year average of each winter’s coldest temperature. Planting dates come from frost dates instead, so look yours up with your state extension service.

Getting transplants ready

Transplants are started indoors several weeks before they are due outside. Before planting, harden them off: move them outdoors gradually, for longer each day, over about one to two weeks.

Getting ahead with covers

Row covers, low tunnels and cold frames let you grow beyond the frost dates at either end of the season, a useful safety net if a late frost threatens new plantings.

In the warmest zones

In Florida, the Gulf Coast and the low desert, the main cool-season garden goes in during fall; see the fall gardening page.

Spring, month by month

• What to plant in March
• What to plant in April
• What to plant in May
• USA vegetable planting calendar

Spring questions

Sources and further reading

• University of Illinois Extension: Starting a garden: cool-season vegetables
• Penn State Extension: Cool-season vs. warm-season vegetables
• Iowa State University Extension: What’s the difference between cool and warm season veggies?
• Colorado State University Extension: Vegetable planting guide
• University of Illinois Extension: Starting a garden: hardening off indoor seedlings
• UNH Extension: Starting plants from seed (fact sheet)
• West Virginia University Extension: Vegetable transplant production
• USDA Agricultural Research Service: How to use the maps (USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map)
• Iowa State University Extension: New plant hardiness zone map released from the USDA
• University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension: Hardiness zone maps
• University of Illinois Extension: Planting a fall vegetable garden
• Alabama Cooperative Extension System: Basics of fall vegetable gardening
• South Dakota State University Extension: Season extension for fall specialty crops
• Penn State Extension: Season extenders and growing fall vegetables
• UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: Vegetable gardens by season
• University of Arizona Cooperative Extension: Fall vegetable gardening
• LSU AgCenter: Vegetable gardening in the fall

Facts on this page are summarized in our own words from the pages above; each is supported by at least two of them, or by one plus well-established growing science (noted in our research file). Every source was opened and checked on October 23, 2026.

Put this season on paper

A season goes better when it is written down. Sketch what goes where in the free Vegetable Garden Layout Planner Tool, then keep sowing dates, harvests and notes for the whole year in the USA Vegetable Garden Planner (printable PDF). Every crop we cover is in the USA growing guides.