Billings, MT · zone 4b · ~149 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Billings.
In Billings, the typical last spring frost lands around May 7 and the first fall frost around Oct 3, giving you about 149 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 Billings, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Apr 2 to Jun 2 | May 14 to Jul 14 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Mar 30 to May 14 | Jul 20 to Sep 18 |
| Carrot | — | Mar 30 to May 2 | Jul 8 to Aug 3 |
| Bush Bean | — | May 7 to Jun 27 | Jun 19 to Jul 22 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | May 14 to Aug 13 | Jun 2 to Jul 3 |
| Pepper, bell | Apr 11 to Jun 2 | May 23 to Jul 14 | — |
| Kale | Feb 16 to Mar 16 | Mar 30 to Apr 27 | Jul 3 to Aug 18 |
| Spinach | — | Mar 16 to Apr 27 | Jul 20 to Sep 7 |
Billings sits in Zone 4b, 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 Billings 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 59101 in about 60 seconds.