USDA Hardiness Zone 5B covers portions of Kansas, Missouri, southern Ohio, and the Colorado foothills, with average annual minimum temperatures between -15°F and -10°F. The growing season spans 126 frost-free days, from a last spring frost of May 21 to a first fall frost of Sep 24. With about four months of frost-free weather, Zone 5B supports a wide range of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Succession planting of cool-season crops in both spring and fall is a productive strategy, and most warm-season crops have time to produce two or more flushes. To find your USDA zone by zip code, use our free planting calendar. Browse individual plant guides for detailed growing instructions, or explore how USDA zones work to better understand your growing conditions.
Zone 5B Planting Guide
Last Spring Frost
May 21
First Fall Frost
Sep 24
Growing Season
126 days
Filterable list of 100 vegetables, herbs, and flowers for Zone 5B. Each crop links to its plant page for planting dates.
Browse all 100 Zone 5B plant guides →
Jump directly to the detailed growing guide for any plant in Zone 5B.
Vegetables
Herbs
Flowers
Growing guides for Zone 5B
Hand-picked posts from the GardeningByZone blog that apply to your zone.
Printable planting calendar and worksheet
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When to plant vegetables in New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, from each state's own extension service. ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD · Zones 3b through 8a. Printable PDF.
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Lay out beds, plan crop rotation and record planting dates, with a crop reference for the Northeast region. Printable PDF.
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