Planting guide

What to plant in Zone 7 in February

USDA Zone 7 · US Northern Hemisphere February

February in zone 7, from Nashville and Raleigh to Oklahoma City and the mid-Atlantic, is mostly a starting-indoors month. Average last frosts fall between late March and mid April, so this is when the seed trays fill up, and late in the month the first hardy crops go outside if the soil can be worked.

Plant now

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower (seed, indoors)

Sow early in the month; the seedlings go out in mid to late March, a few weeks before your last frost.

Onions (seed indoors, or transplants late in the month)Allium cepa

Intermediate-day varieties suit zone 7. Seed-grown onions need the long head start.

Peppers and eggplant (seed, indoors, late month)

They are slow: sow 8-10 weeks before your last frost, on a heat mat if you have one.

Peas and spinach (outdoors, late month)

Direct-sow once the soil is workable. Both germinate in cold soil and tolerate light frosts.

Bare-root fruit trees, blueberries and brambles

Plant while they are still dormant, before the buds break.

Timing notes

  • USDA zones measure the coldest winter night, not frost dates. Two zone 7 towns can have last frosts three weeks apart, so look up your own date and count back from it.
  • Tomatoes do not need starting yet: 6-8 weeks before your last frost is late February at the earliest, and March for most of zone 7.
  • Do not work wet soil. If a handful squeezed into a ball stays in a lump instead of crumbling, wait a few dry days.
Frost dates and a seed-starting schedule for your ZIP code Free calculator from NOAA station records: last spring frost, first fall frost, and what to start each week. ← All planting guides