February Planting Guide by Zone
Click on your Zone for details.
Zones 1 – 4
- Start a garden journal now, allowing space to record the dates of first and last frosts, seed-planting dates, transplanting, time of bloom, first fruit, fertilizing, problems with pests, and what worked and didn’t work. Over a period of years, this will be an invaluable record.
- Check for winter sales at your local garden center; you can often find deals on pots, planters, and tools.
- Test and replace fluorescent bulbs in grow lights. If you are using LED grow lights, test them as well.
- Organize seed packets according to planting date. Start ordering seeds. Do not wait until late in the winter, as varieties may sell out early.
- Try raising an indoor crop of leaf lettuce beneath lights. Plant lettuce in flats and harvest before it’s time to start some of the later seedlings. Artificial light may be required, but the air should not be too hot.
- Sprouts are a good indoor crop now.
Zones 5 – 6
- Draw your garden plan before placing your seed order. Refer to last year’s notes and plan for crop rotation and selection of varieties that did well. Try at least one new variety this year.
- Start ordering seeds. Do not wait until late in the winter, as varieties may sell out early.
- Order onion bulbs now for the best selection, and store them in a cool place.
- Wash and sterilize seed-starting containers in 1 part bleach to 9 parts water.
- Start seeds of onions and leeks indoors towards the end of the month for transplanting in early March.
- Start some herbs in containers, such as fresh parsley or garlic chives.
- To give your vegetables an early start, use season-extending devices such as cold frames or hotbeds.
- For the earliest tomatoes, start short-season tomato seeds under lights at the end of the month. In mid-to-late April, set out the transplants and protect them with Wall O’ Waters.
- If the ground isn’t frozen, sow some spinach and radishes outdoors under cover.
- Try raising an indoor crop of leaf lettuce beneath lights. Plant lettuce in flats and harvest before it’s time to start some of the later seedlings. Artificial light may be required, but the air should not be too hot.
- Sprouts are an easy and quick crop now.
Zones 7 – 8
- Start seeds of cabbage, early lettuce, and, at the end of the month, broccoli.
- Start onion bulbs in the garden underneath a row cover towards the end of the month.
- Sow peas in the garden towards the end of the month. Cover the pea bed with clear plastic until sprouts begin to emerge; then, immediately switch to a floating row cover to protect the seedlings from weather and birds.
- Start herb seeds indoors under lights.
- Feed the soil by applying compost to plantings throughout your landscape: trees, shrubs, lawns, and all garden beds.
- Continue sowing pollinator-attracting flower seeds directly into flowerbeds and flowers for cuttings.
- Try sprouts for a quick, fresh green vegetable in less than a week.
Zones 9 – 10
- Build your soil! During dry spells, dig in composted manure and garden waste; turn under cover crops such as annual rye, vetch, and clover.
- Start seeds of beloved summer vegetables—tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant—indoors under lights. In hotter climates (southern AZ, desert CA & NV, southern TX, and southern FL), don’t delay getting them started to have fruit before the June heat arrives.
- Direct-seed radishes, spinach, carrots, peas, onions, and cabbage family vegetables so you can harvest a crop before the real heat sets in.
- Later this month, plant corn and cucumbers in the garden, but be prepared to protect them from a surprise frost.
- Set out transplants of hot peppers; be prepared to protect them from frost and, as the weather warms, from intense sunlight.
- Also, later this month, start southern favorites such as okra, southern peas, and sweet potatoes, which love the heat.
Zone Planting Guides
Planting charts for your Zone
Zone 3
Zone 3 is the coldest and shortest of the USDA garden zones.
Zone 4
Zone 5
Zone 6
Zone 7
Zone 8
Zone 9
Zone 10
USDA Zones vs First & Last Frost Dates
Which to Use and Why
USDA Zone Maps
These guides show the lowest average temperatures recorded in the area over the past 30 years.
They are a good basis for initial planning and comparison but should not be used as the only source of information for choosing what vegetables to grow or when to plant.
The Zone information is helpful when exchanging ideas with gardeners in different zones, as it is user-friendly.
Find your USDA hardiness zone here.
Scroll using your cursor to grab and move the map, then zoom in with the + and – buttons at the top left. Once you can see your town, city, or location, click on the map to see your Zone info in a popup window.
First & Last Frost Dates Tool
This frost dates tool provides detailed and accurate information for sowing seed, transplanting, and using frost protection to extend the growing season.
It includes historical data from numerous regional NOAA weather stations to help determine the likelihood of frost in spring and fall.
Find your First and Last frost dates here.
Enter your ZIP code and scroll down to see general information and the three closest weather stations to you.