Washington, DC · zone 7b · ~225 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Washington.
In Washington, the typical last spring frost lands around Mar 29 and the first fall frost around Nov 9, giving you about 225 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 Washington, 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 26 to Oct 25 |
| Carrot | — | Feb 19 to Mar 24 | Aug 14 to Sep 9 |
| Bush Bean | — | Mar 29 to May 19 | Jul 26 to Aug 28 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 5 to Jul 5 | Jul 9 to Aug 9 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 3 to Apr 24 | Apr 14 to Jun 5 | — |
| Kale | Jan 8 to Feb 5 | Feb 19 to Mar 19 | Aug 9 to Sep 24 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 5 to Mar 19 | Aug 26 to Oct 14 |
Washington sits in Zone 7b, 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 Washington 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 20001 in about 60 seconds.