Boston, MA · zone 6b · ~209 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Boston.
In Boston, the typical last spring frost lands around Apr 9 and the first fall frost around Nov 4, giving you about 209 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 Boston, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Mar 5 to May 5 | Apr 16 to Jun 16 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Mar 2 to Apr 16 | Aug 21 to Oct 20 |
| Carrot | — | Mar 2 to Apr 4 | Aug 9 to Sep 4 |
| Bush Bean | — | Apr 9 to May 30 | Jul 21 to Aug 23 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 16 to Jul 16 | Jul 4 to Aug 4 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 14 to May 5 | Apr 25 to Jun 16 | — |
| Kale | Jan 19 to Feb 16 | Mar 2 to Mar 30 | Aug 4 to Sep 19 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 16 to Mar 30 | Aug 21 to Oct 9 |
Boston sits in Zone 6b, 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 Boston 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 02108 in about 60 seconds.