Hey there! I'm in zone 6 and I've had this little patch of dirt sitting idle for a couple of months. I'm finally ready to do something with it, but I'm wondering if it's too late to plant seeds. Is it a bad idea to start planting in August?
3 Answers
Totally doable! I just planted some black seeded Simpson lettuce and spinach myself. You might also want to try planting some bush green beans; they could catch up quickly!
As a newbie myself, I think you’re in luck! The first frost in zone 6 usually hits around mid to late October, meaning you have about 60-75 days left for crops to grow and mature. There are plenty of cold weather crops that thrive at this time, plus some quick-growing ones. This week, I put in Swiss chard, bush beans, and carrots, and I plan to seed spinach and lettuce soon. You could still plant cucumbers as well; I harvested some recently from seeds I put in back in late June!
While I mainly grow flowers, I’m seeding some ornamental kale and pansies right now, and it's a great time to plant perennials for spring blooms. Just a heads up, some perennials need cold stratification to germinate, so they might require a bit of pre-cooling if you didn't prepare them earlier. Otherwise, starting with nursery plants could be easier!