Planting calendar
Zone 8 Planting Calendar: What to Plant Each Month
Last updated July 31, 2026
Zone 8 runs winter lows of 10 to 20°F, and is conventionally taken to average its last spring frost around March 20 and its first fall frost around November 15 — about 240 frost-free days. Eight frost-free months, but July and August are hostile to cool-season crops. Plant greens in fall and late winter instead of summer.
Sow frost-tolerant crops (peas, spinach, radishes, lettuce, kale, carrots) 6 to 2 weeks before March 20. Plant warm-season crops (beans, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers) 1 to 3 weeks after it. Sow a second round of greens and roots about 10 to 12 weeks before November 15.
Typical regions in zone 8: Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, coastal Carolinas, central California, Willamette Valley.
Month by month in zone 8
10 of the 12 months have something to plant in zone 8. Rows marked re-sow are succession sowings — the same crop planted again every 14 days for a continuous harvest, up to the last date it can still mature before November 15.
January
| Crop | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | Start indoors | January 9 - January 23 |
| Pepper | Start indoors | January 9 - January 23 |
| Tomato | Start indoors | January 23 - February 6 |
February
| Crop | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Cucumber | Start indoors | February 20 - February 27 |
| Kale | Start indoors | February 6 - February 20 |
| Tomato | Start indoors | January 23 - February 6 |
| Carrot | Direct sow outdoors | February 27 - March 6 |
| Kale | Direct sow outdoors | February 20 - March 6 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | Direct sow outdoors | February 20 - March 6 |
| Peas | Direct sow outdoors | February 6 - February 20 |
| Radish | Direct sow outdoors | February 20 - March 6 |
| Spinach | Direct sow outdoors | February 6 - February 20 |
| Onion | Transplant outdoors | February 20 - March 6 |
| Spinach | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 12 |
March
| Crop | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Bush beans | Direct sow outdoors | March 27 - April 3 |
| Carrot | Direct sow outdoors | February 27 - March 6 |
| Kale | Direct sow outdoors | February 20 - March 6 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | Direct sow outdoors | February 20 - March 6 |
| Radish | Direct sow outdoors | February 20 - March 6 |
| Onion | Transplant outdoors | February 20 - March 6 |
| Tomato | Transplant outdoors | March 27 - April 3 |
| Carrot | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing August 13 |
| Kale | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing August 28 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 7 |
| Radish | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing October 2 |
| Spinach | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 12 |
April
| Crop | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Bush beans | Direct sow outdoors | March 27 - April 3 |
| Cucumber | Direct sow outdoors | April 3 - April 10 |
| Zucchini | Direct sow outdoors | April 3 - April 10 |
| Pepper | Transplant outdoors | April 3 - April 10 |
| Tomato | Transplant outdoors | March 27 - April 3 |
| Bush beans | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 2 |
| Carrot | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing August 13 |
| Kale | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing August 28 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 7 |
| Radish | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing October 2 |
| Spinach | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 12 |
May
| Crop | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Bush beans | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 2 |
| Carrot | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing August 13 |
| Kale | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing August 28 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 7 |
| Radish | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing October 2 |
| Spinach | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 12 |
June
| Crop | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Bush beans | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 2 |
| Carrot | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing August 13 |
| Kale | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing August 28 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing September 7 |
| Radish | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing October 2 |
| Spinach | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing September 12 |
July
| Crop | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Carrot | Direct sow for a fall crop | July 30 - August 13 |
| Bush beans | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 2 |
| Carrot | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing August 13 |
| Kale | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing August 28 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing September 7 |
| Radish | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing October 2 |
| Spinach | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing September 12 |
August
| Crop | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Carrot | Direct sow for a fall crop | July 30 - August 13 |
| Kale | Direct sow for a fall crop | August 14 - August 28 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | Direct sow for a fall crop | August 24 - September 7 |
| Peas | Direct sow for a fall crop | August 9 - August 23 |
| Spinach | Direct sow for a fall crop | August 29 - September 12 |
| Bush beans | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 2 |
| Kale | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing August 28 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing September 7 |
| Radish | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing October 2 |
| Spinach | Re-sow every 14 days may bolt in heat | last sowing September 12 |
September
| Crop | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Lettuce (leaf) | Direct sow for a fall crop | August 24 - September 7 |
| Radish | Direct sow for a fall crop | September 18 - October 2 |
| Spinach | Direct sow for a fall crop | August 29 - September 12 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 7 |
| Radish | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing October 2 |
| Spinach | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing September 12 |
October
| Crop | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Radish | Direct sow for a fall crop | September 18 - October 2 |
| Radish | Re-sow every 14 days | last sowing October 2 |
Nothing to sow outdoors in November, December in zone 8. Crops already in the ground keep growing and keep being harvested. Use the time to plan beds, order seed, build a compost pile, or start long-season crops under a light indoors.
Every crop, sowing to harvest
One row per crop, with the indoor start where it applies, the outdoor planting window, the second fall sowing where the season allows it, and the earliest realistic harvest.
| Crop | Start indoors | Plant outdoors | Fall sowing | Re-sow until | Harvest from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radish | - | Direct sow outdoors: February 20 - March 6 | September 18 - October 2 | October 2 | March 14 - March 22 |
| Lettuce (leaf) | - | Direct sow outdoors: February 20 - March 6 | August 24 - September 7 | September 7 | April 6 - April 16 |
| Spinach | - | Direct sow outdoors: February 6 - February 20 | August 29 - September 12 | September 12 | March 18 - March 28 |
| Bush beans | - | Direct sow outdoors: March 27 - April 3 | - | September 2 | May 16 - May 26 |
| Zucchini | - | Direct sow outdoors: April 3 - April 10 | - | - | May 18 - May 28 |
| Kale | February 6 - February 20 | Direct sow outdoors: February 20 - March 6 | August 14 - August 28 | August 28 | April 11 - April 26 |
| Peas | - | Direct sow outdoors: February 6 - February 20 | August 9 - August 23 | - | April 7 - April 17 |
| Carrot | - | Direct sow outdoors: February 27 - March 6 | July 30 - August 13 | August 13 | May 3 - May 18 |
| Cucumber | February 20 - February 27 | Direct sow outdoors: April 3 - April 10 | - | - | May 28 - June 7 |
| Tomato | January 23 - February 6 | Transplant outdoors: March 27 - April 3 | - | - | May 26 - June 20 |
| Pepper | January 9 - January 23 | Transplant outdoors: April 3 - April 10 | - | - | June 12 - July 2 |
| Onion | January 9 - January 23 | Transplant outdoors: February 20 - March 6 | - | - | May 31 - June 20 |
Growing in zone 8
Eight frost-free months, but July and August are hostile to cool-season crops. Plant greens in fall and late winter instead of summer.
Soil beats calendar. Extension guidance for the hardiest crops is “as soon as the soil can be worked” or “as soon as the soil thaws” — not a fixed date. If you cannot crumble a handful of soil in your fist, wait, whatever the table says. Warm-season crops have a matching rule: beans want 60°F soil, cucumbers and squash 70°F.
Heat is your limiting factor, not frost. With 240 frost-free days, the hard part of the zone 8 year is midsummer. Lettuce and spinach bolt bitter above 80°F, so move them to autumn and late winter rather than fighting July. The fall sowing dates above are the important ones here.
About the bolting warnings. Cool-season crops run to seed and turn bitter in summer heat. The “may bolt in heat” flag above is a rough calendar rule — mid-June to the start of September, the same window across the whole country — because a hardiness zone carries no summer-temperature information at all. In zone 8 treat it as understated; your hot spell starts earlier and runs later, and heat-tolerant varieties plus afternoon shade matter.
Where these dates come from. A USDA hardiness zone describes average annual extreme minimum WINTER temperature — it is a winter-survival rating for perennials, not a frost-date band. The frost dates below are widely-used approximations for each zone, not official USDA figures, and a single zone spans hundreds of miles. Treat them as a default guess and replace them with your own local averages wherever you have them.
You can enter your own frost dates in the interactive calendar and every window on it recalculates from your numbers. Look up your local averages on the NOAA last-spring-freeze map. Note that an “average” frost date is the point where the chance of freezing drops below 50 percent, so for tender crops it is worth waiting a week or two past it.
Other zones: zone 3 , zone 4 , zone 5 , zone 6 , zone 7 , zone 9 , zone 10 . Or use the interactive calendar to check a single month.
Zone 8 questions
When is the last frost in zone 8?
Zone 8 is conventionally taken to average its last spring frost around March 20 and its first fall frost around November 15, giving roughly 240 frost-free days. Be aware that a hardiness zone is defined by winter minimum temperature, not by frost dates — these are widely-used approximations, not official USDA figures. Get your real dates from the NOAA freeze-date map or your county cooperative extension office.
What can I plant now in zone 8?
Use the month-by-month table on this page. The pattern is: frost-tolerant crops like peas, spinach and radishes go in 6 to 2 weeks before March 20; warm-season crops like beans, zucchini and tomatoes go in 1 to 3 weeks after it; and cool-season crops get a second sowing about 10 to 12 weeks before November 15.
Can I grow tomatoes in zone 8?
Yes. In zone 8, start tomato seed indoors 6 to 8 weeks before March 20 or buy a seedling, then transplant 1 to 2 weeks after the last frost once nights stay above 50°F. With 240 frost-free days there is comfortable room for any variety, including large beefsteak types.
How many harvests can I get in zone 8?
Two to three rounds a year, with the cool-season crops moved to autumn and late winter rather than midsummer, when heat rather than frost becomes the limiting factor.
Does a raised bed change these dates in zone 8?
Yes, in spring. A raised bed warms 2 to 3 weeks earlier than open ground, so you can bring the early sowings forward by up to two weeks. Autumn dates are unchanged, since the first frost arrives on the same day regardless of your setup.
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