Skip to content
PlantNurseryHQ

← All guides

Monthly planting guide

What to plant in February

Computed from this directory's own crop-rules table and each zone band's real median frost dates or monthly temperatures, for the 15th of February. A single national list would be wrong for most readers: February means a different planting stage in a cold-winter zone than it does in a hot, frost-rare one. Every crop name below links to that crop's own sourced guide.

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.

Zones 1-5 (cold winters)

Fort Plain, NY · Zone 5b

Start indoors

Artichoke

Zones 6-7 (temperate)

McMinnville, TN · Zone 7b

Start indoors

Bachelor's Button (Cornflower) , Basil , Bell Pepper , Calendula , Cleome (Spider Flower) , Eggplant , Marjoram , Parsley

Zones 8-9 (warm)

Apopka, FL · Zone 9b

Direct-sow

Beets , Calendula , Carrots , Cilantro , Dill , Parsley , Parsnip , Potato , Swiss Chard

Transplant outside

Catnip/Catmint , Cauliflower , Chives , Mint , Oregano , Parsley , Petunia , Sage , Tarragon , Thyme

Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)

Loxahatchee, FL · Zone 10b

Frost is rare or absent here; timing follows temperature, not frost dates.

Cool-season crops

Apple (bare-root fruit tree) , Apricot (bare-root fruit tree) , Asparagus , Bachelor's Button (Cornflower) , Bare-root rose , Beets , Blackberry , Blueberry , Bok Choy , Broccoli , Brussels Sprouts , Cabbage , Calendula , Carrots , Catnip/Catmint , Cauliflower , Celery , Cherry (sweet/tart, bare-root fruit tree) , Chives , Cilantro , Collards , Currant , Deciduous shade tree (generic, e.g. maple/oak, bare-root or B&B) , Dill , Elderberry , Evergreen shrub (B&B/potted, e.g. arborvitae, boxwood) , Fennel (Bulb/Florence) , Flowering deciduous shrub (generic, e.g. lilac/forsythia) , Garden Peas , Garlic , Gooseberry , Kale , Kohlrabi , Larkspur , Lavender , Leek , Lettuce , Mint , Mustard Greens , Nasturtium , Onion (bulb) , Oregano , Parsley , Parsnip , Peach (bare-root fruit tree) , Pear (bare-root fruit tree) , Petunia , Plum (bare-root fruit tree) , Potato , Radish , Raspberry , Rhubarb , Rutabaga , Sage , Snapdragon , Snow Peas , Spinach , Strawberry , Sweet Alyssum , Sweet Pea , Swiss Chard , Table/Bunch Grape , Tarragon , Thyme , Turnip

Warm-season crops

Artichoke , Arugula , Basil , Bell Pepper , Cantaloupe / Muskmelon , Cleome (Spider Flower) , Cosmos , Cucumber , Eggplant , Fig , Four O'Clock , Lemongrass , Lima Beans , Marigold , Marjoram , Morning Glory , Okra , Pole Beans , Pumpkin , Rosemary , Snap Beans (Bush) , Summer Squash , Sunflower , Sweet Corn , Sweet Potato , Tomato , Watermelon , Winter Squash (Butternut) , Zinnia , Zucchini

February keeps the cold and temperate bands in indoor-seeding territory while the warm band crosses its own last frost this month and the hot band never left its growing season at all.

Still about eleven weeks out from the cold band's own May 6 last frost. Seed-starting indoors is open and covers more crops than January's shorter list, but nothing goes in the ground yet.

About seven weeks out from the temperate band's own April 7 last frost. This is peak indoor-seeding month here: crops that need a five-to-seven-week head start have their whole window inside February.

The warm band's own last frost, around February 24, is still a little over a week away by the middle of this month. The direct-sow and transplant lists above split because different crops in this band's hardy and semi-hardy classes measure their own windows differently against that same date, some ahead of it, some right up to it.

February's own average in the hot band is about 66.1°F (NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals), still inside the 50°F to 75°F cool-season range and the 60°F-and-up warm-season range this table uses, so both lists above stay full.

Enter your ZIP for your own exact dates rather than these four representative bands.

Nurseries near these locations

Sources

Full per-crop citations are on each crop's own guide page, linked above. Institutions cited across this page: