When to plant Nasturtium
Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.
Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.
Representative timing, by climate band
When to plant Nasturtium in four US climates
Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.
| Stage |
Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY |
Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN |
Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL |
Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start seed indoors | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Direct-sow outside | Apr 8–Apr 15 | Mar 10–Mar 17 | Jan 27–Feb 3 | – |
| Transplant outside | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Fall planting | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Expected harvest | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a semi hardy crop. In climates like this one, hardy and semi-hardy crops typically go in during the cooler months (fall through late winter), not on a frost-relative schedule.
Nasturtium's frost tolerance splits by region, not by disagreement over the plant itself. Iowa State University Extension's Growing Cool-Season Annuals page calls it a cool-season annual "tolerant of a light frost, often surviving down to 28°F," direct-sown three to four weeks before your last frost, matching Clemson Cooperative Extension's half-hardy classification. University of Florida IFAS Extension instead calls nasturtium frost-tender, dying back in a freeze, but that reflects Florida's near-frost-free growing pattern rather than a real contradiction of what the cold-climate sources report.
This page classifies nasturtium semi-hardy, on the two cold-climate land-grant sources, and takes its direct-sow timing verbatim from Iowa State: three to four weeks before your last frost. NC State Extension's Plant Toolbox corroborates seed propagation but doesn't give its own frost rating.
Nasturtium resents transplanting, per Missouri Botanical Garden, so it's sown direct and bought as seed, not as a started plug; the indoor-sow and transplant fields are blank for that reason. UF/IFAS mentions seed pods developing about four months after seeding, but that's a seed-pod timeline, not a bloom date, so it isn't used as this page's days-to-maturity figure.
Frost hardiness
Semi-hardy. Tolerates light frost. Best planted close to the last frost date.
Sourcing notes
DISAGREEMENT: Iowa State Extension's Growing Cool-Season Annuals page explicitly names nasturtium as a cool-season annual "tolerant of a light frost, often surviving down to 28F," direct-sown 3-4 weeks before last frost -- matching Clemson's Growing Annuals classification of nasturtium as half-hardy, seeded in early spring. UF/IFAS Extension (Florida), by contrast, calls nasturtium a frost-tender annual that "will die back to the ground during a freeze," reflecting Florida's near-frost-free growing pattern rather than a contradiction of cold tolerance elsewhere. Classified semi_hardy per the two cold-climate land-grant sources (Iowa State + Clemson), with direct-sow timing taken verbatim from Iowa State (3-4 weeks before last frost). NC State Plant Toolbox corroborates seed propagation but gives no explicit frost rating. Resents transplanting (Missouri Botanical Garden), so sow_indoors and transplant fields left blank. UF/IFAS's "pods develop about 4 months after seeding" is a seed-pod timeline, not bloom, so not used for days_to_maturity.
Related crops
Growing zones for this crop
Nurseries near these locations
Sources
- Clemson Cooperative Extension Home & Garden Information Center, Growing Annuals (HGIC 1152) (accessed 2026-08-04)
- Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (Yard and Garden), Growing Cool-Season Annuals (accessed 2026-08-04)
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Tropaeolum majus (accessed 2026-08-04)
- University of Florida IFAS Extension - Gardening Solutions, Nasturtiums (accessed 2026-08-04)