When to plant broccoli in zone 7b

The zone 7b schedule for broccoli

Start seeds indoors

January 18 to February 8

Plant out

March 8 to 22

Sow outdoors

March 15 to 22

First harvest, roughly

April 27 to June 5

Plant for a fall crop

August 16 to September 13

From the median frost dates of the NOAA stations assigned to the 3,025 ZIP codes in zone 7b, and the timing recommended by Cooperative Extension guides for broccoli.

Dates before the last frost assume the soil has thawed and is dry enough to work: a squeezed handful crumbles instead of sticking. After a late or wet spring, wait for that even if the date has passed.

Frost risk in zone 7b

Zones are based on winter cold, not on frost dates, so the last spring frost varies a lot within a zone. Across zone 7b, the typical last frost ranges from about March 30 in the earliest tenth of ZIP codes to April 17 in the latest tenth, and the first fall frost from October 24 to November 18. For a typical place in the zone:

• March 20Risky: a later frost happens in 9 years out of 10
• April 5Typical: frost after this date in half of years
• April 21Safe: a later frost only 1 year in 10

Broccoli in zone 7b cities