Timing is everything
The Minnesota planting calendar
Minnesota gardening is a timing game — the growing season is short, but it's absolutely long enough if you play the calendar right. Here's the whole year at a glance, then the season-by-season version.
Late winter — January through March
The garden's asleep; the gardener shouldn't be. Plan beds, order seeds, and start the slow growers indoors — onions and celery in February, peppers and tomatoes in March. (Meanwhile, we're seeding thousands of trays in the greenhouses so you don't have to.)
Spring — April into mid-May
Cool lovers go first: pansies, flowering kale, and cold-tolerant veggies like broccoli and spinach can handle April's mood swings. Everything else waits for the frost line. Around here the average last frost lands mid-May — Mother's Day is the folk rule — but "average" means half of all years see frost after that. Watch the forecast, and keep a frost blanket handy through Memorial Day.
Planting season — mid-May through June
The main event. Annuals, hanging baskets, and containers go out once frost danger passes; tomatoes, peppers, and other heat lovers want nights reliably above 50°F, usually late May. Perennials and shrubs can go in any time the ground is workable — spring planting gives them the longest runway (our zone guide covers picking ones that will actually come back).
Summer — June through August
Now it's maintenance: deep watering, regular feeding for containers, deadheading for rebloom, and the famous July haircut for leggy baskets. Mid-summer is also prime time to see plants at full size before you buy — the benches don't lie in July.
Fall — September and October
Mums hit the benches in late summer for months of color. September is your perennial-planting deadline — get them in by mid-to-late month so roots establish before freeze-up. Then cleanup: cut back what's diseased, leave seed heads and stems for the birds and pollinators, plant spring bulbs before the ground locks, and mulch tender perennials after the ground freezes, not before.