Dallas, TX · zone 8a · ~266 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Dallas.
In Dallas, the typical last spring frost lands around Mar 5 and the first fall frost around Nov 26, giving you about 266 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 Dallas, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Jan 29 to Mar 31 | Mar 12 to May 12 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Jan 26 to Mar 12 | Sep 12 to Nov 11 |
| Carrot | — | Jan 26 to Feb 28 | Aug 31 to Sep 26 |
| Bush Bean | — | Mar 5 to Apr 25 | Aug 12 to Sep 14 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Mar 12 to Jun 11 | Jul 26 to Aug 26 |
| Pepper, bell | Feb 7 to Mar 31 | Mar 21 to May 12 | — |
| Kale | Dec 15 to Jan 12 | Jan 26 to Feb 23 | Aug 26 to Oct 11 |
| Spinach | — | Jan 12 to Feb 23 | Sep 12 to Oct 31 |
Dallas 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 Dallas 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 75201 in about 60 seconds.