Atlanta, GA · zone 8a · ~236 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Atlanta.
In Atlanta, the typical last spring frost lands around Mar 21 and the first fall frost around Nov 12, giving you about 236 frost-free days. Cool-season crops go out before the last frost; warm-season crops wait until after it.
The 2026 windows
Sow dates for Atlanta, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Feb 14 to Apr 16 | Mar 28 to May 28 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Feb 11 to Mar 28 | Aug 29 to Oct 28 |
| Carrot | — | Feb 11 to Mar 16 | Aug 17 to Sep 12 |
| Bush Bean | — | Mar 21 to May 11 | Jul 29 to Aug 31 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Mar 28 to Jun 27 | Jul 12 to Aug 12 |
| Pepper, bell | Feb 23 to Apr 16 | Apr 6 to May 28 | — |
| Kale | Dec 31 to Jan 28 | Feb 11 to Mar 11 | Aug 12 to Sep 27 |
| Spinach | — | Jan 28 to Mar 11 | Aug 29 to Oct 17 |
Atlanta sits in Zone 8a, but two gardens in the same city can be a week or two apart. The planner works from your ZIP code's frost dates, not the zone, so the dates land right for your block, not the metro average.
Build your Atlanta garden plan.
Tell the free planner what you want to eat and who you're feeding. It returns plant counts, spacing, and frost-safe sow dates for ZIP 30303 in about 60 seconds.