Regional guide

Eastern North Carolina Planting Calendar

NC State Extension guide for Eastern North Carolina planting dates, coastal timing shifts, frost and heat stress, transplants, and season extension.

Climate signals

• NC State's Eastern North Carolina Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs says freezing temperatures, high temperatures, humidity, and solar intensity are common in eastern North Carolina.
• The source says those temperature extremes can stress plants, so gardeners should choose tolerant varieties, plant at appropriate times, or protect the plants.
• Eastern North Carolina has three optimal growing seasons: spring, summer, and fall.
• Cool-season vegetables tolerate colder temperatures and some frost, while warm-season plants should grow outside only in frost-free months.
• During heat waves when temperatures are in the mid 90s, warm-season plants can temporarily stop bearing.
• Table 1 dates are suggested guidelines; weather conditions vary from year to year, and gardeners at the coast can plant up to two weeks earlier in the spring and two weeks later in the fall.

Planning notes

• Use the table as outdoor planting guidance because NC State says dates on the chart are for planting outside in the garden.
• Read the table legend before linking crops to catalog examples: B = bulbs, C = crowns, S = seeds, T = transplants, and Tu = tubers.
• For transplant crops, NC State says to seed 6-8 weeks before the T date and harden seedlings off before transplanting.
• Plants established in the middle of the recommended planting dates have the best success probability, with lower success rates at the early and late ends of the guidelines.
• Shade in the summer and frost protection in the winter can extend the season; the source also mentions spunwoven covers for earlier in the spring and longer into the fall, plus plastic mulches for earlier in the season.
• Plant additional plants every few weeks within a planting window to extend your harvest.
• The source table gives crop rows for Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, melons, okra, peppers, pumpkin, tomatoes, and watermelon.
• It also gives annual herb and specialty rows for Basil, Cilantro, Dill, Fennel, and Parsley, plus sunflower as an annual planting-calendar row.
• Use these priority catalog links as crop-row examples, not NC State 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.

• Astro Arugula Vegetable · Cool · 35 days
• Genovese Basil Herb · Warm · 68 days
• 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
• White Stem Bok Choy Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
• Snowball Y Cauliflower Vegetable · Cool · 70 days
• Bright Lights Swiss Chard Vegetable · Shoulder · 55 days
• Santo Cilantro Herb · Cool · 50 days
• Georgia Southern Collards Vegetable · Cool · 65 days
• Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
• Bouquet Dill Herb · Shoulder · 55 days
• Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Lacinato Kale Vegetable · Cool · 60 days
• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Hale's Best Jumbo Melon Vegetable · Warm · 85 days
• Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Southern Giant Curled Mustard Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Clemson Spineless Okra Vegetable · Warm · 56 days
• Italian Flat Leaf Parsley Herb · Shoulder · 75 days
• California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
• Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
• French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
• Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
• Waltham Butternut Squash Vegetable · Warm · 95 days
• Mammoth Sunflower Flower · Warm · 90 days
• Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days

Related regional guides

• North Carolina Piedmont Season-Window Garden A North Carolina Piedmont guide for half-hardy spring crops, warm-season beds, summer succession, fall greens, and overwintered or cover-crop planning.
• Western North Carolina Planting Calendar NC State Extension guide for Western North Carolina climate stress, cool spring and fall crops, warm summer crops, transplants, and season extension.

Source: NC State Extension Eastern North Carolina Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs