JANUARY

• Poppies • Larkspur • Bachelor’s Buttons • Milkweed (cold-stratify) • Native wildflower mixes

• Tomatoes • Peppers (hot peppers need long germination) • Eggplants

• Prune roses (major pruning window), remove dead/diseased wood • Clean tools, sharpen pruners, inventory seeds Berries: • Apply dormant oil to roses and fruit shrubs • If needed, top dress blueberries with pine bark fines (acid lover)

FEBRUARY

• Peas • Carrots • Radishes • Spinach • Kale • Swiss chard • Lettuce mixes

• Cucumbers (late Feb) • Pumpkins & squash (only if doing early — otherwise wait until April)

Roses: • Feed with slow-release balanced fertilizer (first feeding of the year)

MARCH

• Beans (late March) • Basil • Cilantro • Dill (great for pollinators) • Sunflowers • Zinnias • Cosmos • Milkweed (if not sown earlier)

Transplant outdoors (after frost passes): • Lettuce, kale, cabbage, broccoli • Tomatoes & peppers (late month, after soil warms)

Berries: • Fertilize blueberries with an acidic fertilizer (Holly-tone or ammonium sulfate) • Fertilize blackberries & strawberries with balanced 10-10-10

APRIL

Plant (huge planting month): • Cucumbers • Pumpkins • Squash (summer + winter) • Lufas • Beans • Basil, oregano, thyme • Marigolds, zinnias, cosmos (pollinators LOVE these) • Native perennials: coneflower, black-eyed susan, coreopsis, bee balm, mountain mint

Roses: • Apply second fertilizer feeding • Begin fungicide spray if needed (black spot prevention)

MAY

• Successive cucumbers & beans • Canteloupe, watermelon • More zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers • Okra (zone 8 loves heat) • Sweet potatoes (if you want a new crop to try)

• Mulch heavily before heat arrives • Start regular harvesting of greens • Watch for squash vine borers — wrap vine bases if needed

JUNE

Heat-resistant planting: • Southern peas (cowpeas/black-eyed peas) • More okra • Malabar spinach (heat-loving green) • Zinnias, cosmos, marigolds for summer pollinator color

Berries: • Side-dress blackberries with compost as fruit sets • Protect strawberries from birds Roses: • Feed again (light feeding) • Deadhead regularly

JULY

Plant for fall: • Pumpkins for October carving (July 1–15 planting window) • More beans • More cucumbers • Start fall tomatoes indoors (YES — two seasons!)

• Water deeply; heat is intense in 8a • Watch for pests: Japanese beetles, aphids, stink bugs

AUGUST

• Carrots • Beets • Turnips • Radishes • Collards • Lettuce (late August)

broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale

Roses: • Stop heavy fertilizing so they can slow down before fall • Continue deadheading

SEPTEMBER

• Spinach • Lettuce • Arugula • Cilantro • Dill • Plant fall natives: asters, goldenrod, salvia, mountain mint

Transplant: • Broccoli • Cauliflower • Cabbage • Kale

OCTOBER

Cool season crops: • Garlic • Shallots • Onions (plant onion sets mid-late Oct) • Continue lettuce & spinach staggered planting

Roses: • Final bloom flush • Minimal pruning (no heavy trims)

NOVEMBER

• Add compost around perennials • Mulch roses, berries, and perennials • Plant any final garlic or spring-flowering bulbs • Clean beds

DECEMBER

• Mulch everything • Plan your 2027 garden • Order seeds (best selection comes in Dec–Jan) • Last chance to prune roses lightly if shape is needed