Columbus, GA · zone 8b · ~247 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Columbus.
In Columbus, the typical last spring frost lands around Mar 14 and the first fall frost around Nov 16, giving you about 247 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 Columbus, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Feb 7 to Apr 9 | Mar 21 to May 21 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Feb 4 to Mar 21 | Sep 2 to Nov 1 |
| Carrot | — | Feb 4 to Mar 9 | Aug 21 to Sep 16 |
| Bush Bean | — | Mar 14 to May 4 | Aug 2 to Sep 4 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Mar 21 to Jun 20 | Jul 16 to Aug 16 |
| Pepper, bell | Feb 16 to Apr 9 | Mar 30 to May 21 | — |
| Kale | Dec 24 to Jan 21 | Feb 4 to Mar 4 | Aug 16 to Oct 1 |
| Spinach | — | Jan 21 to Mar 4 | Sep 2 to Oct 21 |
Columbus sits in Zone 8b, 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 Columbus 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 31901 in about 60 seconds.