THE MONTHLY GARDEN CHORES are one of the most popular features on A Way to Garden (and they are all archived at this link). Though the how-to I offer in those columns will apply most anywhere–pruning a rose or sowing a tomato seed is similar, wherever the rose or tomato may grow–the when is not the same, of course.
To help you adjust the timing of my tips: My garden is in Zone 5B, in the Hudson Valley (NY)-Berkshires (MA) area, where frost can persist well into May and typically arrives again sometime in October. For more zone-specific help, I’ve collected links, below, to some detailed garden calendars from elsewhere around the country that I was able to track down.
Please note: There was not a good calendar for every state and microclimate within a state to be found. Within the list below, I expect you’ll find some directional choices for where you garden. If you know of another calendar I should include, let me know.
If you’re trying to figure out when to sow vegetable-garden, herb and annual flower seed, try my seed-sowing calculator, customizable to your frost-free dates.
monthly garden-chore calendars by region
far west
Oregon
Washington
- Washington State University Extension vegetable guide (including calendar)
- Washington State University garden tasks calendars
Cailfornia–University of California Extension:
California–“Los Angeles Times”
northeast
- Rutgers vegetable garden planner
- Cornell Extension/Nassau County “Gardening Month by Month”
- My monthly garden chores (Zone 5B, NY-MA-CT border)
midwest
Illinois
Missouri
Minnesota
Indiana
south and mid-atlantic
Florida
Georgia
Maryland
Mississippi
North Carolina–N.C. State University Extension:
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Virginia
West Virginia
southwest and intermountain regions
New Mexico
Colorado
Texas–via Texas A&M University Extension:
Each month for many years, the “Aggie Horticulture Newsletter” from TAMU Extension carried Bill Welch’s calendar. Samples from the archives:
Utah
I live in south Burlington, Vermont 05403. . Can you tell my the zone here? We are so close to the lake it seems like we’re in a microclimate as opposed to the next towns east.
I love your newsletter. I heard you speak at the Worcester Botanical Garden 20 or so years ago & have followed you ever since.
Kathy Boozan
You are Zone 5a, Kathy, and you can check about that on the UDSA Hardiness zone finder page.
I am looking for the calendar for Minnesota and do not find it in the list above. I live in zone 4B and you live in zone 5B so I would think there would still be a considerable difference in time when things would be done in the garden.
I enjoy reading your newsletter and it is always interesting to read. I truly appreciate how much information you share for us gardeners out there. Thank you.
Marian Wolf
Hi, Marian. The University of Minnesota extension website has a brief to-do list that is here. You could also click around their website for more details under specific topics like vegetable and flower gardening and so on. Wish they had a more comprehensive calendar but …