Thanks to our mild winters, you can plant a Phoenix garden in the fall and in the spring. Find out what to plant in your Phoenix garden and the best time of year to start planting your favorite vegetables.
Gardening in Phoenix, Arizona
Are you planting a vegetable garden in Phoenix for the first time?
- When to Plant
- What to Plant
- Warm Season versus Cool Season Vegetables and Herbs
- Planting Calendar for Warm Season Vegetables
- Planting Calendar for Cool Season Vegetables
- Gardening Resources: Books for Desert Gardening
When to Plant
Planting in the low-desert of Phoenix is different than other parts of the country. Rather than the traditional spring planting season we are are lucky to have two major plantings times: Spring and Fall.
Depending on when you started planting your garden you can expect to harvest from your Phoenix garden nearly year round.
Our planting season is September through April. Phoenix residents plant their gardens in the winter, while the rest of the country is buried in snow.
What to Plant
As a rule of thumb bare root roses should be planted in January and February. Annual and perennial flowers can be planted October through April. Vegetables and Citrus can be planted September through March. Bulbs should be planted in November.
Are you ready to get your hands dirty and start planting? Below is an easy guide of what the optimal time of year is to grow a particular plant.
Warm Season Vs. Cool Season Vegetables
Vegetables are divided into two groups: warm season and cool season.
Warm season vegetables, like their name implies, thrive when planted so they mature when temperatures are warmer. These veggies thrive in warm soil with higher temperatures. Warm season veggies cannot tolerate frost.
If planting warm-season vegetables early don’t forget to cover them when temperatures dip. Plant warm-season vegetables in mid-February after the last frost in Phoenix.
Planting Calendar for Phoenix: Grow Warm Season Vegetables
Visual guide to planting warm season vegetables and fruits in your Phoenix garden. Some of our favorite warm season vegetables include: green beans, cucumbers, melons, peppers, eggplants, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, and zucchini.
Planting Calendar for Phoenix: Cool Season Vegetables
Visual guide to planting cool season vegetables and fruits in your Phoenix garden. Cool-season vegetables can be planted starting in mid-September. S
ome popular cool-season vegetables include root vegetables like carrots, radishes, turnips, onions, potatoes, radishes, parsnips, and garlic.
Cabbage family plants like broccoli, cauliflower, and kale are cool season vegetables. Peas, lettuce, spinach, kale and artichokes prefer the cooler temps too.
Resources: Desert Gardening Books
If you’re just starting a vegetable garden in Phoenix or planting fruits and nuts there are several great books.. One of the first books we purchased on desert gardening and one of our favorites is Extreme Gardening: How to Grow Organic in the Hostile Deserts.