Zone 7 Planting Schedule: Vegetable Calendar for 7a and 7b

Your zone is a winter low, not a planting date. The USDA zone map rates the average coldest winter night, which tells you which perennials survive. Planting dates come from frost, so the dates below use NOAA frost normals at five zone 7 stations. For yours, enter your ZIP in our frost date calculator; the rules in the crop table let you shift any row.

Last and first frost in zone 7

These are NOAA 1991-2020 normals for a 32 F night at five airports, each the weather station nearest a ZIP that the 2023 USDA map puts in zone 7. Each date is a median: in about half of years the last spring frost comes later. The 1 year in 10 column is the date after which a spring frost comes in only 1 year in 10.

Zone 7 median: last frost Apr 3 (Richmond, VA), first frost Nov 3 (Nashville, TN); 215 frost-free days, the middle of the five in the table (the two median dates come from different stations, so they sit 214 days apart, our count). Every date below counts from these two. Inside one zone the last frost still spans Mar 31 to Apr 24, about 3 weeks, and the first frost Oct 21 to Nov 7, which is why your ZIP beats your zone: enter it in our frost date calculator for the station nearest you.

The zone line does not sort frost dates either: Boise, ID, in zone 7a, has its median last frost on Apr 24, 11 days later (our count) than Kansas City, MO, in zone 6b (Apr 13).

Zone 7 planting dates by crop

Dates for 31 vegetables at the zone 7 median. The last column is the rule behind each row, in weeks from frost, so you can move any row to your own frost dates. Crop names link to the full growing guide.

Frost-tender crops (basil, cantaloupe, cucumbers, edamame, eggplant, lima beans, okra, peppers, pumpkins, snap beans, summer squash, sweet corn, tomatoes and winter squash) are never dated before the median last frost, even where a source allows a week earlier: at the median, a later frost still comes in half of years. Their last planting also leaves their shortest days to maturity before the median first frost, so it can still ripen (eggplant 100 days, where the source says 14 weeks before first frost). "Our count" is the University of Maryland rule: days to maturity plus 10 to 14 days, back from the first fall frost. "From" means the source gives an opening date and no closing one.

Zone 7 vegetable planting calendar, month by month

Each month lists what you can start indoors, set out, sow outdoors and begin to harvest at the zone 7 median. A crop shows in every month its window touches; (fall) marks a fall sowing and (from) a window with an opening date only.

Harvest begins is our count: each planting date plus the shortest days to maturity its source gives, so a crop shows from its earliest possible first picking. Frost-tender crops stop at the first fall frost.

What to plant this month in zone 7

What opens and what closes each month at the zone 7 median. Windows that stay open all month are in the calendar above.

What to plant in January in zone 7

Starts: start kale indoors from Jan 16; start eggplant and lettuce indoors from Jan 23. Last call: start broccoli and cabbage indoors by Jan 9; start kale indoors by Jan 30.

What to plant in February in zone 7

Starts: start basil, cauliflower, okra, peppers and tomatoes indoors from Feb 6; start cilantro indoors from Feb 20; set out broccoli and cabbage from Feb 20; sow peas, radishes, rutabagas, spinach and turnips outdoors from Feb 20; set out kale from Feb 27; sow kale outdoors from Feb 27. Last call: start lettuce indoors by Feb 6; start cauliflower indoors by Feb 13; start basil, eggplant, okra, peppers and tomatoes indoors by Feb 20.

What to plant in March in zone 7

Starts: start cantaloupe, radicchio and winter squash indoors from Mar 6; start cucumbers, pumpkins, summer squash and sweet corn indoors on Mar 6; set out or sow lettuce from Mar 6; sow arugula, beets, carrots, radicchio and Swiss chard outdoors from Mar 6; set out cauliflower from Mar 13; sow potatoes outdoors from Mar 27. Last call: start cilantro indoors by Mar 6; start cantaloupe, radicchio and winter squash indoors by Mar 13. First harvests can start: lettuce and radishes.

What to plant in April in zone 7

Starts: set out basil, cilantro, eggplant, peppers, radicchio and tomatoes from Apr 3; set out or sow cantaloupe, cucumbers, okra, pumpkins, summer squash, sweet corn and winter squash from Apr 3; sow basil, cilantro, edamame, lima beans and snap beans outdoors from Apr 3. Last call: sow kale outdoors by Apr 17; set out or sow sweet corn by Apr 24; sow peas outdoors by Apr 24. First harvests can start: arugula, beets, broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuce, peas, spinach, Swiss chard and turnips.

What to plant in May in zone 7

Last call: sow spinach outdoors by May 3. First harvests can start: carrots, cauliflower, cilantro, cucumbers, okra, peppers, radicchio, rutabagas, snap beans and summer squash.

What to plant in June in zone 7

Last call: sow turnips outdoors by Jun 21. First harvests can start: basil, cantaloupe, edamame, lima beans, potatoes, radicchio, sweet corn, tomatoes and winter squash.

What to plant in July in zone 7

Last call: set out peppers and tomatoes by Jul 7; sow potatoes outdoors by Jul 7; set out or sow cantaloupe and okra by Jul 14; sow rutabagas outdoors by Jul 14; set out or sow pumpkins by Jul 21; set out eggplant by Jul 26; set out broccoli and cauliflower by Jul 28. First harvests can start: eggplant and pumpkins.

What to plant in August in zone 7

Starts: sow fall peas on Aug 11; sow fall kale from Aug 26; sow fall radicchio from Aug 31. Last call: set out cabbage by Aug 4; set out or sow winter squash by Aug 4; sow carrots outdoors by Aug 4; set out or sow cucumbers by Aug 11; sow lima beans and snap beans outdoors by Aug 11; sow edamame outdoors by Aug 15; set out or sow summer squash by Aug 25; sow basil outdoors by Aug 25; sow fall kale by Aug 30.

What to plant in September in zone 7

Starts: sow fall spinach and turnips from Sep 8; sow fall radishes on Sep 15. Last call: sow beets outdoors by Sep 8; sow cilantro outdoors by Sep 14; sow fall radicchio by Sep 17; set out or sow lettuce by Sep 22; sow Swiss chard outdoors by Sep 22; sow fall spinach and turnips by Sep 22.

What to plant in October in zone 7

Last call: sow arugula outdoors by Oct 4. First harvests can start: kale, peas, radishes and spinach.

What to plant in November in zone 7

First harvests can start: radicchio and turnips.

What to plant in December in zone 7

Starts: start broccoli and cabbage indoors from Dec 26.

How we worked out these dates

• Stations, not the zone, set the dates. The 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map rates places by the average coldest winter night (1991-2020); it says nothing about frost dates. We picked five airports whose ZIPs the USDA map puts in zone 7, both halves of the zone included, and took their NOAA 1991-2020 normal dates for a 32 F night at 50 percent probability.
• One date per zone. The zone date is the median of the five stations: the middle value, so it is a real station's date. Last frost Apr 3 (Richmond, VA); first frost Nov 3 (Nashville, TN).
• Crop rules. Every crop date is our frost calculator's output for those two dates, using each crop's rule from Montana State University's MontGuide or the source our crop guide uses. Indoor starts count the weeks to transplant size back from the set-out date, both ends, as MontGuide does.
• Harvest. Harvest begins is our count: each planting date plus the shortest days to maturity the source gives. It is timing only; we make no promise about how much a crop gives.
• Your garden. A low spot, a cold spring or a variety with other days to maturity moves these dates. The frost date calculator gives the dates at the NOAA station nearest your ZIP.

Where the sources disagree

The crop table follows one rule per crop. Other extension services and seed companies time some crops differently:

• Peppers and tomatoes indoors. The table starts both 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost, as Clemson does. Maryland starts pepper seed 8 to 10 weeks before the frost-free date, and some types need 12. For tomatoes, Minnesota and Johnny's count 5 to 6 weeks back from the day the plants go outside.
• Cucumbers and melons. The table opens both at the median last frost. Utah State plants cucumbers once the soil is 65 F; Minnesota and Johnny's wait for 70 F. Minnesota sows melon seed 1 week to 10 days before the last frost if the soil is warm enough, while Johnny's sows 1 to 2 weeks after it, in soil above 70 F.
• Okra. Illinois sows okra about a week to 10 days after the last frost; Maryland waits 2 to 3 weeks, until the soil is 65 F. The table opens at the frost date itself.
• Spinach. MontGuide, behind the table, sows spinach 6 weeks before the last frost. Wisconsin sows about 4 weeks before it and Utah State 2 to 3 weeks before. Utah State sows into 40 F soil; Maryland waits for 45 F.
• Arugula's last sowing. The table stops 30 days before the first frost; Cornell says about a month. Johnny's keeps sowing until 2 to 3 weeks before it.

Finding your own frost dates

1. Enter your ZIP in our frost date calculator. It reads the NOAA 1991-2020 normals at the weather station nearest you; your zone number cannot give you those two dates.
2. Find your crop in the table above and count the weeks in its rule from your own last and first frost.
3. Check the soil before you sow: spinach goes into 40 F soil (Utah State), carrots into 45 F (Maryland), okra into 65 F (Maryland) and cucumbers into 70 F (Minnesota).

More planting guides

• Zone 5 planting schedule
• Zone 6 planting schedule
• Zone 8 planting schedule
• Zone 9 planting schedule
• Brassicas: how to grow kale, cauliflower, turnips and radishes
• Companion planting: what grows well together
• How to grow asparagus, a perennial planted from crowns
• How to grow sprouts indoors, any month of the year
• How to grow onions from seed, sets or transplants
• Frost dates by ZIP code, with a seed-starting calculator

Sources

Every date on this page comes from these sources, read on October 29, 2026.

• NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020 (freeze dates, 32 F, 50 percent probability)
• USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023 (Agricultural Research Service; zone of each station's ZIP)
• Botanical Interests, Arugula Sow and Grow Guide (Internet Archive copy)
• Cornell Garden-Based Learning, Arugula
• University of Illinois Extension, Good Growing: Arugula
• University of Minnesota Extension, Growing basil
• UMass Extension Vegetable Program, Basil
• University of Maryland Extension, Growing Leafy Greens
• Montana State University Extension, MontGuide MT199308AG
• Utah State University Extension, Cilantro/Coriander
• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Cilantro
• Utah State University Extension, What is Edamame
• Iowa State University Extension, All About Beans
• Utah State University Extension, How to Grow Kale
• Clemson HGIC, Pepper
• Utah State University Extension, How to Grow Chicory
• Johnny's Selected Seeds, Radicchio Key Growing Information
• University of Minnesota Extension, Growing tomatoes
• Clemson HGIC, Tomato
• University of Maryland Extension, Growing Peppers
• Johnny's Selected Seeds, Tomatoes Key Growing Information
• Utah State University Extension, Cucumber
• University of Minnesota Extension, Growing cucumbers
• Johnny's Selected Seeds, Cucumber Key Growing Information
• Johnny's Selected Seeds, Melon Key Growing Information
• University of Minnesota Extension, Growing melons
• University of Illinois Extension, Okra
• University of Maryland Extension, Growing Okra
• University of Wisconsin Extension, Spinach
• Utah State University Extension, Spinach
• University of Maryland Extension, Growing Spinach
• Johnny's Selected Seeds, Arugula Key Growing Information
• University of Maryland Extension, Growing Carrots

Frequently asked questions

When should I plant potatoes in zone 7?

Plant seed potatoes in zone 7 from Mar 27 to Jul 7. MontGuide's window runs from 1 week before the last frost to 17 weeks before the first, here counted from zone 7's median dates, Apr 3 and Nov 3. MontGuide gives potatoes 80 to 140 days. For your own dates, enter your ZIP in our frost date calculator.

When should I start seeds indoors in zone 7?

At the zone 7 median, start broccoli and cabbage first, Dec 26 to Jan 9, then kale Jan 16 to Jan 30, then tomatoes and peppers Feb 6 to Feb 20. Each counts back from its set-out day the weeks a transplant needs: 6 to 8 (Clemson, MontGuide), or 5 to 6 for kale (Utah State).

What should I plant in July in zone 7?

In July in zone 7, keep sowing arugula, carrots, cilantro, cucumbers, edamame and lima beans outdoors: their windows stay open past July 31 at the zone's median frost dates. Some close this month: potatoes by Jul 7; cantaloupe, okra and rutabagas by Jul 14. The calendar above lists every crop by month.

When should I plant beets in zone 7?

Sow beets outdoors in zone 7 from Mar 6 to Sep 8. MontGuide's window opens 4 weeks before the last frost (Apr 3 at the zone 7 median) and closes 8 to 10 weeks before the first (Nov 3), so the last sowings fall Aug 25 to Sep 8. Beets take 50 to 80 days from sowing.

When should I plant carrots in zone 7?

Sow carrots outdoors in zone 7 from Mar 6 to Aug 4. MontGuide's window opens 4 weeks before the last frost (Apr 3 at the zone 7 median) and closes 13 weeks before the first (Nov 3). Carrots take 60 to 80 days, so the last sowing is ready Oct 3 to Oct 23.