Regional guide

Arizona Elevation-Band Vegetable Garden

UA Cooperative Extension guide for Arizona vegetable timing by elevation, heat, cold, frost dates, and crop adaptation.

Climate signals

• Ten Steps to a Successful Vegetable Garden is verified Peer Reviewed, with Publication Date: February 2015 and publication number az1435.
• Arizona vegetable timing should be grouped by elevation because gardening occurs from almost sea level to over 7,000 feet.
• Lower elevations up to 3,000 feet generally use an early spring period for warm-season crops and a late summer to winter period for cool-season crops.
• Higher elevations 3,000 to 7,000 feet generally use one main cropping period planted during spring and early summer.
• In Central and Southern Arizona at higher elevations, an early fall planting of cool-season vegetables is usually productive.
• The planting-date guides are based on experience, observation, frost dates, hardiness, and other characteristics of vegetable species.

Planning notes

• Choose sites with plenty of morning sunlight and some afternoon shade; fruiting types do best with six to eight hours of full sun, while leafy and root vegetables tolerate partial shade.
• Microclimates occur throughout the property, so use elevation to select spots suited to warm or cool season vegetables.
• For 10-1,000 feet, bush beans have Feb. 1-Mar. 1 and Aug. 1-Sept. 1 windows.
• For 1,000-2,000 feet, bush beans have Feb. 15-Mar. 15 and July 25-Aug. 15 windows.
• For 2,000-3,000 feet, bush beans have Mar. 1-Apr. 1 and July 15-Aug. 15 windows.
• For 3,000-4,500 feet, beets have a Mar. 1-May 15 window.
• For 4,500-6,000 feet, tomato plants have a May 10-June 1 window.
• Above 6,000 feet, tomato plants have a May 25-June 10 window.
• Above 6,000 feet, bush beans run May 25-June 15, sweet corn runs June 1-10, and cucumber runs June 1-25.
• Above 6,000 feet, edible soy, muskmelon, and watermelon are marked Not adapted, so do not map those crop rows as high-elevation priorities.
• Find the listed Arizona location closest to your elevation and adjust with local experience, county Cooperative Extension advice, and local nurseries or garden centers.
• Use these priority catalog links as crop-level examples for UA elevation rows, not UA cultivar recommendations.

Catalog crop examples

These catalog entries match crops covered by the regional timing source; variety-specific details remain tied to each seed entry's own source.

• Provider Bush Bean Vegetable · Warm · 50 days
• Detroit Dark Red Beet Vegetable · Cool · 58 days
• Waltham 29 Broccoli Vegetable · Cool · 74 days
• Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts Vegetable · Cool · 100 days
• Golden Acre Cabbage Vegetable · Cool · 64 days
• Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
• Snowball Y Cauliflower Vegetable · Cool · 70 days
• Bright Lights Swiss Chard Vegetable · Shoulder · 55 days
• Georgia Southern Collards Vegetable · Cool · 65 days
• Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
• Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Green Curled Endive Vegetable · Cool · 85 days
• Lacinato Kale Vegetable · Cool · 60 days
• Early White Vienna Kohlrabi Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Southern Giant Curled Mustard Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Clemson Spineless Okra Vegetable · Warm · 56 days
• Evergreen Bunching Onion Vegetable · Shoulder · 65 days
• Italian Flat Leaf Parsley Herb · Shoulder · 75 days
• Hollow Crown Parsnip Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
• Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
• California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
• Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
• French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
• American Purple Top Rutabaga Vegetable · Cool · 90 days
• Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
• Waltham Butternut Squash Vegetable · Warm · 95 days
• Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days

Related regional guides

• Maricopa County Low-Desert Vegetable Garden UA az1005 Maricopa County calendar for low-desert heat, spring/fall seasons, S/T/X rows, pest timing, and soil temperatures.
• Yuma County Planting and Harvesting Calendar UA az1615 Yuma County calendar for cool/warm seasons, alkaline/saline soils, pest pressure, crop rows, depths, and harvest windows.
• Pima County Vegetable Planting and Harvesting Guide UA Pima County half-month vegetable table with sow, transplant, harvest, do-not-plant markers, crop rows, and local timing examples.

Source: Ten Steps to a Successful Vegetable Garden