Plant Growing Guides

Tomatoes

The most popular home garden crop — warm-season, sun-loving, and endlessly rewarding.

Peppers

Heat-loving fruits, from sweet bells to fiery chilies, that reward patience with warmth.

Cucumbers

Fast, prolific vines that deliver crisp fruit all summer with steady water.

Zucchini & Summer Squash

Famously productive — one or two plants can feed a whole household.

Lettuce

The fastest, easiest cool-season green — perfect for succession sowing.

Spinach

Cold-hardy, nutrient-dense green that thrives in cool spring and fall weather.

Kale

Tough, cold-hardy leafy green that actually tastes sweeter after frost.

Carrots

Sweet roots that demand loose soil and patience but store beautifully.

Beans

Easy, fast, and soil-improving — a perfect crop for new gardeners.

Peas

The first crop of spring — sweet, cool-loving, and best eaten straight off the vine.

Broccoli

Cool-season brassica that needs steady cool weather to form tight heads.

Radishes

The fastest vegetable you can grow — ready in as little as three weeks.

Beets

Two crops in one — sweet roots below and nutritious greens above.

Garlic

Plant in fall, harvest next summer — one of the most low-maintenance crops.

Onions

Day-length-driven bulbs — choosing the right type for your latitude is everything.

Potatoes

Hill them up and harvest a hidden treasure — a satisfying, high-yield staple.

Sweet Corn

Sun-drenched summer ears, sweetest the moment they leave the stalk.

Eggplant

Glossy heat-lovers that need real warmth to set their velvety fruit.

Cabbage

Dense, cool-season heads that sweeten in frost and store for months.

Cauliflower

The fussiest brassica — reward steady cool weather with snow-white curds.

Swiss Chard

The most forgiving leafy green — colorful, productive, and slow to bolt.

Winter Squash

Sprawling vines that trade space and sun for storable, sweet keeper squash.

Pumpkins

Big, sprawling vines that turn a sunny summer into a fall centerpiece.

Watermelon

The taste of summer — long, hot days turn into sweet, dripping slices.

Cantaloupe

Fragrant, netted melons that perfume the whole garden when ripe.

Okra

A heat-thriving Southern classic that pumps out pods all summer long.

Asparagus

A patient gardener’s dream — one planting that feeds you for decades.

Sweet Potatoes

Heat-loving tropical roots grown from slips for a big fall dig.

Celery

A thirsty, long-season crop that rewards patience with crisp, fragrant stalks.

Brussels Sprouts

A long-season brassica that turns fall frosts into sweet, nutty sprouts.

Turnips

A fast, fuss-free dual crop — tender greens up top and sweet roots below.

Leeks

Patient, cold-hardy alliums with a sweet, mild onion flavor and long season.

Arugula

A peppery, lightning-fast salad green that thrives in cool weather.

Kohlrabi

An alien-looking brassica with a crisp, sweet, broccoli-meets-apple bulb.

Parsnips

A long-season root that turns frost into deep, nutty sweetness.

Rhubarb

A jewel-stalked perennial “fruit vegetable” that returns bigger every spring for decades.

Fennel

Anise-scented crisp bulbs and feathery fronds — a fall-crop reward that demands cool weather and steady moisture.

Artichoke

A bold, architectural perennial grown for its edible flower buds — beautiful, productive, and best harvested before the bloom.

Bok Choy

The fastest-growing brassica — crisp, mild, and table-ready in as little as a month.

Edamame

Sweet, protein-packed soybeans harvested young — as easy as bush beans and ready in one summer.

Tomatillos

Papery-husked relatives of the tomato that form the backbone of fresh salsa verde.

Ground Cherries

Sweet, papery-husked relatives of the tomato — self-fertile, wildly productive, and ready when they fall.

Lima Beans

Buttery, heat-loving shell beans that thrive when other crops flag in midsummer.

Mustard Greens

The fastest, spiciest cool-season green — from seed to harvest in as little as 45 days.

Horseradish

A once-planted perennial root that is almost unkillable — harvest in fall for sinus-clearing, fresh-grated heat.

Sorrel

A tart, lemony perennial leaf that returns year after year and outpaces almost every spring green.

Fava Beans

A cold-hardy cool-season legume that fixes nitrogen and produces rich, buttery beans unlike any other.

Basil

The quintessential summer herb — warmth-loving, fragrant, and quick from seed.

Cilantro

Cool-season herb that gives leaves (cilantro) and seeds (coriander) from one plant.

Parsley

A hardy, productive biennial herb that tolerates cold and even partial shade.

Mint

Vigorous and nearly unkillable — just keep it contained or it takes over.

Rosemary

Drought-tolerant Mediterranean shrub — perennial in mild zones, a pot plant elsewhere.

Thyme

A tough, low-growing perennial herb that thrives on poor soil and neglect.

Dill

Feathery, aromatic foliage and seed heads — and a magnet for beneficial insects.

Oregano

A tough, sun-loving Mediterranean perennial that thrives on neglect.

Sage

A soft, silvery, woody perennial herb that loves sun and sharp drainage.

Chives

A no-fuss perennial allium with mild onion flavor and edible purple flowers.

Chamomile

Apple-scented daisy flowers beloved for tea — one of the easiest self-sowing herbs you can grow.

French Tarragon

The essential herb of French cuisine — anise-scented, perennial, and only authentic from cuttings, never from seed.

Borage

Electric-blue edible star flowers and the best bee magnet in the garden — sow once and it feeds itself forever.

Lemon Balm

Lemony, bee-beloved perennial herb that grows itself — just cut it back before it blooms.

Lemongrass

A fragrant tropical grass with bold culinary and tea uses — and easy to start from a grocery-store stalk.

Lemon Verbena

The most intensely lemon-scented herb you can grow — a staple for herbal teas, summer desserts, and cocktails.

Ginger

A tropical root crop with bold, spicy flavor — easily grown in containers or warm-climate beds.

Strawberries

The first fruit most gardeners grow — perennial, productive, and great in containers.

Blueberries

Long-lived, beautiful shrubs — the catch is they demand acidic soil.

Raspberries

Easy perennial canes that pay back a sunny corner with summers of fruit.

Blackberries

Vigorous, heat-tolerant brambles that deliver pails of late-summer fruit.

Grapes

A long-lived vine that trades patience and pruning for baskets of fruit.

Figs

Sun-loving, low-fuss trees that reward warmth with soft, honeyed fruit.

Apples

The classic backyard orchard tree — needs a partner, patience, and a little pruning.

Pears

Forgiving, long-lived orchard trees that ripen best off the branch.

Peaches

Fast-bearing, self-fertile stone fruit for warm, sunny gardens.

Plums

Productive stone-fruit trees in cold-hardy European and juicy Japanese types.

Currants

Cold-hardy, shade-tolerant berry shrubs that crop heavily with little fuss.

Cherries

Spectacular spring-blooming stone-fruit trees — choose sweet or tart and match the variety to your climate.

Elderberries

A fast-growing native shrub that gives clouds of fragrant flowers in summer and clusters of medicinal dark berries in fall.

Mango

A tropical, frost-tender tree that rewards a hot, sunny, frost-free spot with heavy crops of fragrant fruit.

Papaya

A fast, short-lived tropical "tree" that can fruit within a year of planting — if frost never touches it.

Bananas

A giant, fast-growing herbaceous “tree” that fruits reliably only where frost never reaches it.

Lemons

Ever-blooming, self-fertile citrus that fruits year-round in warmth — or in a pot by a sunny window anywhere.

Oranges

The classic sweet citrus — needs more sustained heat than lemons and a long, frost-free season to fully sweeten.

Avocado

A big, fast-growing tropical tree with an unusual flowering trick and fruit that only ripens after picking.

Passionfruit

A rampant tropical vine that trades a sturdy trellis for months of fragrant, egg-shaped fruit.

Dragon Fruit

A climbing cactus with spectacular night-blooming flowers — give it a sturdy post and it repays you with vivid fruit.

Pineapple

Grow a whole new plant from the leafy top of a grocery-store pineapple — slow, but genuinely delightful.

Pomegranate

A tough, largely self-fertile shrub-tree that needs a long, hot summer to fill its fruit with juice.

Loquat

An evergreen tree that blooms in the cold months, which is exactly why marginal zones get leaves and no fruit.

Guava

A fast, easy tropical tree that can fruit within a couple of years — but plant it thoughtfully, since it naturalizes readily.

Haskap

An edible honeysuckle that blooms through snow and ripens before strawberries.

Saskatoon Berry

The prairie native behind juneberries and serviceberries — tough, hardy, and heavy-bearing.

Lingonberry

A low evergreen groundcover that crops twice a year — if the soil is acid enough.

Sea Buckthorn

A thorny, nitrogen-fixing shrub loaded with tart orange berries — but only if you plant both sexes.

Aronia

A tough North American native berry bush — heavy-cropping and trouble-free, but too astringent for most people to eat raw.

Gooseberries

A tart, old-fashioned cool-climate shrub — check local rules before planting, since some states restrict Ribes.

Cloudberry

A true arctic bog berry — one of the very few fruits that survives the coldest zones, but genuinely difficult to cultivate.

Sunflowers

Big, cheerful, and foolproof from seed — a favorite with kids and pollinators.

Zinnias

The easiest cut flower — heat-loving, fast, and the more you cut the more you get.

Marigolds

Cheerful, tough, pest-deterring companions for the vegetable garden.

Dahlias

Show-stopping summer-to-frost blooms grown from tender tubers.

Cosmos

Airy, effortless daisies that bloom for months and adore poor soil.

Snapdragons

Cool-season spires of jewel-toned blooms that shrug off light frost.

Black-eyed Susans

Golden, daisy-like prairie flowers that bloom for months and feed pollinators.

Coneflowers

Hardy, drought-proof perennials with bold daisy blooms loved by pollinators.

Tulips

Spring’s headline act — fall-planted bulbs in every color imaginable.

Daffodils

Cheerful, deer-proof spring bulbs that naturalize and return for decades.

Sweet Peas

Old-fashioned climbing annuals with intensely fragrant, ruffled blooms.

Peonies

Lush, fragrant late-spring blooms from a perennial that can outlive you.

Pansies

Cheerful cool-season faces that shrug off frost in spring and fall.

Lavender

Fragrant, silvery, sun-baked perennial spikes that bees can’t resist.

Nasturtiums

Peppery, edible flowers and leaves that thrive on neglect and smother weeds.

Calendula

Glowing orange and yellow cool-season blooms with edible petals and a centuries-old herbal tradition.

Roses

America’s most beloved flower — stunning, fragrant, and far easier with the right variety.

Bachelor's Buttons

Old-fashioned cobalt-blue cutting flowers that sow themselves and bloom for months.

Morning Glories

Fast-climbing annual vines that drench fences and trellises in trumpet-shaped blooms from summer until frost.

Bee Balm

A bold North American native that draws hummingbirds and bees with vivid midsummer blooms.

Yarrow

Drought-proof perennial powerhouse — flat-topped summer blooms that feed every beneficial insect in the garden.

Petunias

The most-planted annual in America — cascading color in sun from late spring until frost.

Hollyhocks

Towering cottage-garden biennials with stately spires of papery blooms that self-seed for decades.

Impatiens

The classic shade-garden annual — months of nonstop color where little else blooms.

Geraniums

Sun-loving, drought-tolerant South African tender perennials — the classic bedding and container flower.

Chrysanthemums

The quintessential fall flower — pinch through summer for clouds of color in autumn.

Begonias

Non-stop color from spring to frost with zero deadheading — the most forgiving bedding annual for shade and sun.

Coleus

Bold, colorful foliage for shady spots — the most versatile warm-season annual for non-stop color without full sun.

Celosia

Velvety plumes and crested fans in electric colors — the most heat-proof summer annual for cutting and drying.

Foxglove

Towering cottage-garden spires loaded with spotted bells — a biennial that self-sows for effortless annual succession.

Daylilies

The most planted perennial in North America — drought-tough, deer-resistant, and available in nearly every color.

Lupines

Majestic nitrogen-fixing spires in vivid bi-colors — a cool-climate perennial that rewards patience and punishes poor drainage.

Sweet Alyssum

Honey-scented, low-growing annual that carpets borders and containers with clouds of tiny white or lavender flowers all season.