Vancouver, WA · zone 8a · ~202 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Vancouver.
In Vancouver, the typical last spring frost lands around Apr 11 and the first fall frost around Oct 30, giving you about 202 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 Vancouver, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Mar 7 to May 7 | Apr 18 to Jun 18 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Mar 4 to Apr 18 | Aug 16 to Oct 15 |
| Carrot | — | Mar 4 to Apr 6 | Aug 4 to Aug 30 |
| Bush Bean | — | Apr 11 to Jun 1 | Jul 16 to Aug 18 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 18 to Jul 18 | Jun 29 to Jul 30 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 16 to May 7 | Apr 27 to Jun 18 | — |
| Kale | Jan 21 to Feb 18 | Mar 4 to Apr 1 | Jul 30 to Sep 14 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 18 to Apr 1 | Aug 16 to Oct 4 |
Vancouver 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 Vancouver 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 98660 in about 60 seconds.