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Seasonal Planting Guides

Plant the right thing. Right now.

240 guides matched to your US region and the month you are actually gardening in. USDA zones. Plain English. No jargon, no assumed knowledge.

Pick your regionFind your zone

Browse by the month you are gardening in

Guides & articles

Know what you're doing before you dig.

Beginner-friendly deep dives written by the Bloomwise team. USDA-grounded, no jargon.
A lush cedar raised bed garden filled with tomatoes, basil, and lettuce in morning light
Featured guide
9 min
raised bedbeginnersoil

Your First Raised Bed Garden: From Lumber to Harvest in One Weekend

You don't need a yard, a tractor, or a green thumb. A raised bed is the fastest path from 'I want a garden' to actually eating something you grew.

April 2026
Read the guide
Flat lay of heirloom seed packets, a terracotta pot with a seedling, and a planting calendar open to April
aprilplanting guide
8 min

What to Plant in April: The Real US Guide, Region by Region

April is the month beginners get burned the most. Half the country can't plant tomatoes yet. The other half already missed the window for cool-season crops. Here's how to know which half you're in.

Apr 2026
Read
Overhead view of companion-planted garden bed with corn, beans, squash, and marigolds growing together
companion plantingthree sisters
10 min

Companion Planting 101: The Science Behind Plant Friendships

Some companion planting is folk wisdom that turned out to be real plant biology. Some is myth, repeated long enough to feel like fact. This guide covers the pairs with actual mechanistic explanations behind them.

Apr 2026
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Seed starting trays under grow lights on a wire shelf, with seedlings emerging from dark seed-starting mix
seedsbeginner
8 min

Starting Seeds Indoors: A Week-by-Week Guide to Your Best Transplants

The transplants you buy at the garden center were started six to eight weeks before you see them. Growing your own means more variety, lower cost, and plants timed exactly to your last frost.

Apr 2026
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A garden bed covered in straw mulch with garlic planted in rows, surrounded by fall foliage
fallbeginner
7 min

Fall Garden Prep: 8 Tasks That Set You Up for a Better Spring

The gardeners who have the easiest springs are the ones who did the work in October. Eight tasks, five of which take under an hour each, that make the difference between a slow start and hitting the ground running.

Apr 2026
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A thriving tomato plant loaded with ripening fruit, staked with bamboo and growing in a raised bed
tomatoesvegetables
11 min

How to Grow Tomatoes: The Complete Guide from Transplant to Harvest

Most tomato failures come down to two decisions made in the first week: wrong variety type and wrong planting depth. Fix those and everything else gets easier.

Apr 2026
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Close-up of dark, rich garden soil with visible earthworm channels and decomposing organic matter
soilcompost
10 min

Building Great Garden Soil: What Your Plants Actually Need Underfoot

The most expensive seed packet in the store will fail in bad soil. The cheapest seeds thrive in good soil. Here's how to build the kind of soil that makes growing food almost embarrassingly easy.

Apr 2026
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A collection of terracotta pots and fabric grow bags on a sunny balcony, planted with tomatoes, herbs, and peppers
containerbeginner
9 min

Container Gardening 101: Growing Food Without a Yard

A container garden is not a compromise. It gives you complete control over soil quality, placement, and drainage that in-ground gardeners spend years trying to achieve.

Apr 2026
Read

By month

What grows in your month?

Every month is a different garden. Pick yours.

January

winter

20 guides

February

winter

20 guides

March

early spring

20 guides

April

spring

20 guides

May

late spring

20 guides

June

early summer

20 guides

July

summer

20 guides

August

late summer

20 guides

September

early fall

20 guides

October

fall

20 guides

November

late fall

20 guides

December

winter

20 guides

By region

Find your corner of the country.

Twenty US regions, each with its own zone range and ideal plant list.

California

Zones 7 to 11

Long, dry summers and mild winters make California one of the most forgiving gardening zones in the country. The catch is water, not cold.

Texas

Zones 6 to 10

Hot, humid along the Gulf, bone-dry in the west, with late freezes that blindside anything planted too early in March.

Florida

Zones 8 to 11

The only state with a true subtropical catalogue, but summer rain, hurricane season, and sandy soil rewrite every rule you've read elsewhere.

New York

Zones 4 to 7

Short, humid summers and long, biting winters. The growing window is tight, so the Northeast gardener's edge is timing.

Pennsylvania

Zones 5 to 7

Four genuine seasons, reliable rain, and some of the best topsoil in the eastern US. Forgiving weather, demanding deer.

Illinois

Zones 5 to 7

Brutal humidity in July, polar-vortex cold in February, but prairie soils can grow almost anything that survives the swings.

Ohio

Zones 5 to 7

Reliable rainfall and a generous frost window, though late-May frosts still catch eager gardeners every other year.

Georgia

Zones 7 to 9

A long, warm season with mild winters in the south half of the state. The challenge is clay soil and August humidity rot, not cold.

North Carolina

Zones 6 to 8

A rare state where the same backyard can grow both tomatoes and blueberries well. Piedmont soil rewards steady work.

Michigan

Zones 4 to 6

Lake-effect weather buffers the extremes but compresses the season. Plant too early and a frost off Lake Michigan will undo a week's work.

New Jersey

Zones 6 to 7

The Garden State earns its name: humid-continental coast, sandy pine barrens, and enough variety for perennials, vegetables, and fruit alike.

Virginia

Zones 6 to 8

Humid summers and mild winters make Virginia an overlooked garden state. Just watch for the late-April frost that nips young peppers.

Washington

Zones 5 to 8

West of the Cascades you garden through the drizzle; east, you contend with high-desert heat. Two different seasons in one state.

Arizona

Zones 6 to 10

Desert gardening is less about cold and more about finding the shade and the water. Everything flips once you learn to plant for heat, not for frost.

Massachusetts

Zones 5 to 7

A New England classic: late springs, brilliant autumns, and a growing season short enough that every warm day earns its keep.

Tennessee

Zones 6 to 8

Long warm seasons, reliable rain, and soil that varies from rocky Cumberland to rich Delta. One of the most generous gardening climates in the country.

Indiana

Zones 5 to 7

Classic Midwest weather with one foot in the South. Watch the late spring frosts, and enjoy a fall that stretches into November.

Missouri

Zones 5 to 7

Humid summers and cold enough winters to kill anything tender, but the frost-free window is long enough to run a second crop of fall greens.

Maryland

Zones 6 to 8

The Chesapeake climate is mild, humid, and long enough to raise crops most New Englanders envy, if the deer let you.

Colorado

Zones 3 to 7

High, dry, and bright: everything you plant has to survive late frosts, thin mountain soil, and the sun that burns tender leaves in an afternoon.