Topeka, KS · zone 6a · ~191 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Topeka.
In Topeka, the typical last spring frost lands around Apr 14 and the first fall frost around Oct 22, giving you about 191 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 Topeka, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Mar 10 to May 10 | Apr 21 to Jun 21 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Mar 7 to Apr 21 | Aug 8 to Oct 7 |
| Carrot | — | Mar 7 to Apr 9 | Jul 27 to Aug 22 |
| Bush Bean | — | Apr 14 to Jun 4 | Jul 8 to Aug 10 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 21 to Jul 21 | Jun 21 to Jul 22 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 19 to May 10 | Apr 30 to Jun 21 | — |
| Kale | Jan 24 to Feb 21 | Mar 7 to Apr 4 | Jul 22 to Sep 6 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 21 to Apr 4 | Aug 8 to Sep 26 |
Topeka sits in Zone 6a, 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 Topeka 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 66603 in about 60 seconds.