Zone 7b planting calendar

What to plant in October: zone 7b

A rule-of-thumb starting point for zone 7b: last spring frost around April 5, first fall frost around November 5. Zones are set by winter lows, not frost dates, so two gardens in the same zone can be weeks apart. Measure your ZIP below for dates from your area's own 30-year record.

These are zone-average dates. Check an area-level frost estimate from thirty years of nearby weather history and this calendar retimes itself.
Typical last frost: April 5
Typical first frost: November 5
Winter lows: 5 to 10 °F
Zone 7b Almanac. What growers here actually recorded: sowing weeks, days to first pick, and yields.

Direct sow for fall

  • Radish2 sowings: Oct 3 and Oct 17

    Succession sowing 2 of 3. Sow every 14 days for a steady cut. Sowing again a few weeks later keeps the harvest coming instead of arriving all at once.

  • Spinacharound Oct 7

    Counts back 40 days from your first frost. Frost-hardy: light freezes sweeten it.

Sow cover crop

Plant to overwinter

  • Onionaround Oct 8

    In zone 7+ onion sets planted before frost overwinter for an early summer bulb.

  • Garlicaround Oct 22

    Cloves go in about two weeks before first frost. They root now, sleep, then bulb next summer.

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