Seattle, WA · zone 8b · ~252 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Seattle.
In Seattle, the typical last spring frost lands around Mar 12 and the first fall frost around Nov 19, giving you about 252 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 Seattle, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Feb 5 to Apr 7 | Mar 19 to May 19 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Feb 2 to Mar 19 | Sep 5 to Nov 4 |
| Carrot | — | Feb 2 to Mar 7 | Aug 24 to Sep 19 |
| Bush Bean | — | Mar 12 to May 2 | Aug 5 to Sep 7 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Mar 19 to Jun 18 | Jul 19 to Aug 19 |
| Pepper, bell | Feb 14 to Apr 7 | Mar 28 to May 19 | — |
| Kale | Dec 22 to Jan 19 | Feb 2 to Mar 2 | Aug 19 to Oct 4 |
| Spinach | — | Jan 19 to Mar 2 | Sep 5 to Oct 24 |
Seattle 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 Seattle 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 98104 in about 60 seconds.