Raleigh, NC · zone 8a · ~223 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Raleigh.
In Raleigh, the typical last spring frost lands around Mar 29 and the first fall frost around Nov 7, giving you about 223 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 Raleigh, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Feb 22 to Apr 24 | Apr 5 to Jun 5 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Feb 19 to Apr 5 | Aug 24 to Oct 23 |
| Carrot | — | Feb 19 to Mar 24 | Aug 12 to Sep 7 |
| Bush Bean | — | Mar 29 to May 19 | Jul 24 to Aug 26 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 5 to Jul 5 | Jul 7 to Aug 7 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 3 to Apr 24 | Apr 14 to Jun 5 | — |
| Kale | Jan 8 to Feb 5 | Feb 19 to Mar 19 | Aug 7 to Sep 22 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 5 to Mar 19 | Aug 24 to Oct 12 |
Raleigh 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 Raleigh 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 27601 in about 60 seconds.