What to Plant When Resources for Gulf Coast Gardeners

I was going through the internet yet again for links to show what to plant where I live and found Mother Earth News a help

I am in zone 8b, but I only use that for a point of reference to the first and last frost dates and to know what to plant. I go by the weather I see and feel at the time. I have ways to keep things from freezing now so I can be worry free of the frosts.

The link below has all the links below it as well. I just put them here so we could have them in one place.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/What-To-Plant-Now/Gulf-Coast-Gardening-Region.aspx

Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide, University of Florida
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/VH/VH02100.pdf

Georgia Vegetable Gardening Calendar, University of Georgia
http://pubsadmin.caes.uga.edu/files/pdf/C%20943_2.PDF

Alabama Vegetable Planting Chart, Auburn University
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0063/ANR-0063.pdf

Louisiana Vegetable Planting Guide, Louisiana State University
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/46F14CF6-CA36-44E4-95B9-6856552C94EC/56100/Pub1980VegetablePlantingGuide2009HIGHRES.pdf

Texas Vegetable Gardening Guide, Texas A & M University
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/guides/E-502_home_vegetable_guide.pdf

Vegetable Gardening in Mississippi, Mississippi State University
http://msucares.com/lawn/garden/vegetables/organic/index.html

Florida Organic Growers
http://www.foginfo.org/

Organic Gardening in Florida, University of Florida
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_organic_gardening

Beneficial Insects, Texas A&M University
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/growgreen/downloads/beneficial.pdf

Louisiana Organics (ATTRA)
https://attra.ncat.org/sorg/la/

I love this weather we are having. I bet the pool goes up early this year !

Keeping spring in my thoughts keeps winter bright.
Ha-v-v

nice list of links I'm in the same zone just not as close to the coast If I was you I'd get me a couple tarps just in case our last frost date is 10-20 march,I use the 17 march,myself

HillbillyBob wrote:nice list of links I'm in the same zone just not as close to the coast If I was you I'd get me a couple tarps just in case our last frost date is 10-20 march,I use the 17 march,myself

I have ways to keep things from freezing now so I can be worry free of the frosts.

I have a hoop over the bed that is planted and a hoop house that is up for the seedlings.

Ha-v-v

The average frost dates vary a LOT within a zone.

What you want to do is locate your county extension office. They will have the average dates much more specifically for you. They usually have a web site or you can call them and ask.

This link resurfaces all the time on the forum and is probably one of the most comprehensive for first and last frost dates. Simply input your zip code and it will give you climate info by county. Not sure if there is anything out there more granular than that, but several forum members use this site. Currently it has my zip code in it, but simply replace "62703" with your zip code and search.
FROST DATES

The links in the first post refer to the local states, it will give you the extensions there. For instance, the one for MSU is Mississippi State University, it is for our state and offers information for the whole state.

UnderTheBlackWalnut wrote:This link resurfaces all the time on the forum and is probably one of the most comprehensive for first and last frost dates. Simply input your zip code and it will give you climate info by county. Not sure if there is anything out there more granular than that, but several forum members use this site. Currently it has my zip code in it, but simply replace "62703" with your zip code and search.
FROST DATES

I like this link saving it!

I have used all kinds of sites to tell me it's ok to plant. Here's one to input zipcode, tells ya when to start indoors, direct sow, etc.

Jo

http://www.burpee.com/gygg/growingCalendarWithZipCode.jsp?catid=1000&_requestid=981538

I liked it too Ha-v-v - I'm sure I got it from BBG or Boffer or someone like that last year (thanks guys). I then just used those dates and the charts in the back of the book...and that's pretty much all you need. The only time I look at other sites is if I want to grow something that Mel didn't list in the back of the book.

That link where you check by zip code is about 3 days off versus my county extension office. Pretty darned accurate.

I'm new to Southern gardening, and in my case Gulf Coast gardening. (I'm originally from Michigan.) Adjusting to the warmer climate for gardening, plus a 20+ year hiatus from gardening, has forced me to re-learn a lot of what I knew. This has been especially true with the hardiness zones. Due to climatic changes and additional data, the USDA revised their Plant Hardiness zone maps earlier this year. Our area was Zone 8, but is now a Zone 9a, so I'll have to adjust accordingly.

Here's the address to the revised USDA maps. planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ (The forum won't let me post the link since I just signed in today.

Thank you Partygnome and welcome to this site! You will like it here!