USDA Hardiness Zone 5B covers portions of Kansas, Missouri, southern Ohio, and the Colorado foothills, with average annual minimum temperatures between -15ยฐF and -10ยฐF. The growing season averages 178 frost-free days, from a last spring frost around Apr 18 to a first fall frost near Oct 13. With nearly six 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. For a personalized forecast based on your specific 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.
๐ฑ Zone 5B Planting Guide
Last Spring Frost
Apr 18
First Fall Frost
Oct 13
Growing Season
178 days
Planting dates for 100 vegetables, herbs, and flowers โ computed from Zone 5B frost dates.
Browse all 100 Zone 5B plant guides โ
Jump directly to the detailed growing guide for any plant in Zone 5B.
๐ฅฌ Vegetables
๐ฟ Herbs
๐ธ Flowers
๐ Growing guides for Zone 5B
Hand-picked posts from the GardeningByZone blog that apply to your zone.
๐จ๏ธ Printable calendars & worksheets
Instant PDF downloads matched to your region. Print and tuck into your garden journal.
๐ฆ Northeast Regional Bundle โ $5.99 (save $3.49)
Both essential planning tools for the Northeast region โ calendar plus worksheet, bundled at $3.49 off.
Buy bundle for $5.99๐ Northeast Planting Calendar โ $4.49
Month-by-month planting dates for 100 crops across every zone in the Northeast region. Printable PDF.
Buy for $4.49๐ Northeast Planning Worksheet โ $4.99
Map beds, track planting dates, and plan rotations with zone-specific frost windows pre-filled for the Northeast region.
Buy for $4.99