Spring Vegetables to Plant

Written & researched by Elena Marsh Gardening & Landscaping Editor

Updated May 2026

The spring vegetables to plant, in order, are hardy cool-season crops first — peas, spinach, radishes, lettuce, onions and potatoes sown before the last frost — then warm-season crops like beans, tomatoes and squash after it. This is a ready-to-sow list: what to put in the ground now, when the soil hits the right temperature, and how long each takes to harvest. Use it alongside your last frost date and USDA zone to plant each crop at the right moment.

We do not test or physically handle the plants and products we cover; our guidance draws on horticultural extension research and the aggregated experience in thousands of owner reviews, as explained in how we rank.

Plant these first: the earliest spring crops

As soon as the soil can be worked and reaches about 40°F — weeks before your last frost — these hardy crops go straight in the ground.

These are the most cold-tolerant of the cool season vegetables, and the ones that give the first harvests of the year. They share one important trait beyond frost tolerance: they germinate in cold soil where warm-season seed would simply rot, which is exactly why they can go in so early. Peas and spinach in particular are worth sowing the moment the ground is workable — both slow down or bolt as soon as real warmth arrives, so an early start is the only way to get a full crop before the heat ends their season. If a hard freeze is forecast just after sowing, do not worry; the seed sits safely in cold soil, and any emerged seedlings of these hardy crops take light frost in stride.

Plant next: mid-spring cool-season crops

A few weeks later, as soil warms to about 45°F and roughly two to four weeks before the last frost, add these.

Plant after the last frost: warm-season crops

Once frost danger passes and soil holds above 60°F, the heat-lovers go in — usually one to three weeks after the frost date.

• Beans — direct sow at 60°F; ready in 50 to 60 days.
• Cucumbers and squash — direct sow or transplant at 65°F.
• Tomatoes — set out transplants at 60°F.
• Peppers and eggplant — transplant at 65°F, a week or two after tomatoes.
• Sweet corn — direct sow at 60 to 65°F.

These are the warm season vegetables that fill the beds as the early crops finish. Give them the sunniest, best-drained ground, since most need at least six to eight hours of direct sun to fruit well, and wait for genuinely warm soil rather than the calendar date. A cheap soil thermometer takes the guesswork out: if the reading at 2 to 3 inches deep is still below the crop's minimum in the mid-morning, hold off a few more days.

The easiest spring vegetables for beginners

If you are new to gardening, start with the fast, forgiving crops that reward you quickly. Radishes are ready in under a month and germinate readily in cool soil. Leaf lettuce and spinach give cut-and-come-again harvests within weeks and shrug off light frost. Peas are reliable and need only a simple support. Bush beans, planted after the frost, are the easiest warm-season crop. These five build confidence before you tackle longer-season or fussier plants.

What makes them beginner-friendly is a combination of speed, forgiveness and a wide sowing window. A radish that comes up in three days and matures in a month gives fast feedback, and a lettuce or spinach patch keeps producing even if you harvest it unevenly. They also tolerate the two things new gardeners most often get wrong in spring — slightly cold soil and inconsistent watering — far better than a heat-loving tomato would. Starting your first spring garden with a short row each of radishes, lettuce, spinach and peas, then adding bush beans once the frost passes, is a reliable way to learn the rhythm of sowing, thinning and harvesting before committing beds to crops that ask for more patience.

When to plant by zone

Keep sowing for a steady supply

Don't plant everything at once. Re-sow fast crops like lettuce, radishes, spinach and arugula every two to three weeks so the harvest comes in a steady stream rather than all together, and so no bed sits empty. This simple habit is the difference between a glut followed by nothing and a garden that produces continuously through spring. The full seasonal timing is in what to plant in spring.

The same logic applies at the end of the crop's life. A row of lettuce that all matures in the same week either gets eaten in a rush or bolts before you finish it, whereas three short sowings made a fortnight apart give three manageable harvests spread over more than a month. Peas, bush beans and radishes reward this staggering most. A practical trick is to sow a new short row each time you harvest an old one, so planting and picking become a single ongoing habit rather than one big spring event. By the time the weather warms enough for the last cool-season sowing to bolt quickly, the warm-season crops are ready to take over the beds.

Spring planting tips

• Sow the hardiest crops first — peas, spinach and radishes lead the season.
• Check soil temperature rather than trusting the calendar.
• Wait for warm soil before the beans, tomatoes and squash go in.
• Keep frost cover handy for a late cold snap after the average frost date.
• Re-sow every couple of weeks for a continuous harvest.

Related: spring garden vegetables, what to plant in spring, the vegetable planting calendar, and how we rank.