How This Differs From Other Calendars
Most planting calendars online are zone-based — a single schedule for an entire USDA hardiness zone — or, worse, state-based. Both are far too coarse: a zone can span a thousand miles, and two ZIPs in the same state can have last-frost dates a month apart. A date that's right for one is weeks off for the other.
Gardenable computes the calendar per ZIP. It looks up your ZIP's last spring frost and first fall frost from NOAA's 1991–2020 Climate Normals — measured at the weather station nearest you — and applies each crop's documented timing offsets to those exact dates. The result is a calendar built for your location, not a region you happen to fall inside.
What's In Your Calendar
The calendar groups every crop's recommended actions by month: when to start indoors, when to direct sow, when to transplant seedlings outdoors, and when to expect the first harvest. Each entry is one crop's recommended action on a representative date — derived from the crop's documented timing and your local frost dates — and links straight to that crop's full growing guide.
How Accurate Is It?
Frost dates are statistical, not guarantees. NOAA reports them as percentile bands across 30 years of records — a 10%, 50%, and 90% probability of frost beyond a given date. The calendar uses the median (50%) date, which is the sensible planning baseline, but real weather in any single year varies around it.
Treat the calendar as a precise starting point, then adjust for your own microclimate and the current season's forecast. A sheltered south-facing bed runs ahead of the neighborhood; a frost pocket runs behind. The dates tell you the right week — your eyes on the sky tell you the right day.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a planting calendar?
A planting calendar lays out, month by month, when to take each gardening action for every crop — starting seeds indoors, sowing directly outdoors, transplanting seedlings, and harvesting. Gardenable's version is computed for your exact ZIP code rather than a broad region, so the dates reflect your local frost record instead of a generic schedule.
How is the calendar calculated?
Each crop's timing is documented as a number of weeks before or after frost — for example, start tomatoes six to eight weeks before the last spring frost. We take your ZIP's last spring frost and first fall frost from NOAA's 1991–2020 Climate Normals (using the nearest weather station) and apply each crop's offsets to produce concrete dates. Crop timing comes from university extension publications and seed-supplier charts.
Why doesn't my ZIP work?
The calendar is pre-rendered for the most-populated US ZIP codes. If your exact ZIP isn't available yet, try a nearby ZIP in the same area — frost dates change slowly across short distances, so a neighboring ZIP gives effectively the same calendar. Coverage expands over time.
Can I plant year-round?
It depends on your zone. In frost-free and near-frost-free areas (much of the Deep South, Southwest, and coastal California) the growing season runs most or all of the year, and the calendar will show planting actions in nearly every month. In cold zones with a short season, the calendar concentrates into a tight spring-to-fall window and shows quiet winter months — which is honest, not a gap.