I’m an Experienced Gardener, and Here Are 10 of My Favorite Things You Can Plant in August
I usually travel in spring and early summer, so I don’t always get around to starting my garden until summer is in full swing — maybe you can relate! To complicate matters, I sometimes plant my late-summer garden in a cold-weather region of France, where I live part-time, and sometimes in mild San Francisco. But this doesn’t bother me at all, since I have learned over the years that it is entirely possible to plant (and grow!) veggies and flowers in August, no matter what part of the country you call home.
It’s easy to think that there are strict rules that must be followed when organizing a garden, including planting times that are limited to spring. But Mother Nature is far more lenient than you’d think, since plants in the wild germinate throughout the growing season. When it comes to what to plant in August, you still have lots of options throughout the country, whether you have a large yard or a small patio garden.
As an experienced gardener and a docent at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, I know that gardening is more a matter of enthusiasm than precision. Yes, you’ll have to take the fall frost date into consideration, but that leaves you a lot of room for flexibility. Shrug off the doubters and take your pick from the many crops you can plant this month. Here’s what you can plant in August and when to expect to reap the benefits.
Getting Ready to Garden in August
If you ignored your garden in June and July, the hardest part about planting in August is that your planting area will likely be full of weeds. You may be eager to get the seeds in the ground, but the first thing you need to do is get the shovel out, dig up the weeds, and work the soil. Add a thick layer of organic compost and work that in well.
If you have been growing a garden all summer long, you may be thinking of August crops as the last wave of veggies you can plant at home rather than the only wave. In that case, you’ll need to clear out the early summer crops to make room for August planting. The harder you’ve been working your garden, the more you’ll have to think about adding nutrition to the soil in the form of compost, composted manure, or fertilizer.
Working with Nature’s Time Schedule
August is summer at its peak, but it’s not too hot to plant. Most seeds germinate better in warm soil, even frost-hardy crops like cabbage and kale.
A bigger problem in August is that it can be quickly followed by autumn, complete with autumn freezes, frosts, and even snow, depending on your hardiness zone. But when you select either cold-hardy crops or vegetables that have enough days to mature before the first cold snap, you’ll be fine.
Before you buy seeds, determine the date of the first frost in your area. (You can get an approximation by entering your ZIP code in this National Gardening Association tool.) Count the days from your planting date to the first frost date and mark down that number. Any August plantings that are freeze or frost sensitive must mature in that number of days.
Here are 10 crops that can work well for August gardens.
Vegetables to Plant in August
Arugula
Plant arugula seeds in a site with 6 hours a day of sun, and you’ll be harvesting in a little more than a month. Seriously! It only takes 25 to 30 days to harvest, making it appropriate for August gardens. It’s best to plant cool-weather crops like Arugula in cooler USDA zones.
For a mild arugula that adds drama to salad, go for the ‘Dragon’s Tongue’ cultivar with its gorgeous, crimson-veined leaves.
Days to Harvest: 30-40
Zones: 2-7
Snow peas
Did you ever wonder why these crunchy flat pods are called snow peas? It’s because they shrug off light freezes and even flurries in autumn. These pea pods have peas inside, but the pod is also edible and makes a great addition to stir-fries or salads. Install a trellis before planting the seeds so your vines have something to climb.
I recommend “Mammoth Melting” cultivar (with the stringless, 4- to 5-inch pods and if you live in USDA zone 6 or 7 inches since it can take up to 90 days to harvest). But I plant “Little Snowpea Purple” in France in August, since these crisp pods only take 50 days to mature. If you plant in early August, you’ll be harvesting in late September.
Days to Harvest: 50 to 90
Zones: 3-7
Carrots
Carrots are right up there with tomatoes as some of the most popular vegetables in this country. These classic root vegetables can be seeded in August, when the still-warm weather gives them a cozy start, then allowed to mature in September or October.
It’s also fun to do succession planting with carrots, sowing seeds every few weeks to ensure a continuous carrot harvest.
Pick a variety that stores well, like the cultivar “Bolero” that gets extra-sweet as the weather chills in October.
Days to Harvest: 55-80
Zones: 5-9
Purple Daikon Radish
These cool and beautiful root vegetables are perfect for August planting since the seeds like to germinate in warm weather, but they mature better and taste sweeter in chillier temperatures.
If you’re not familiar with Daikon radishes, they are mild, crisp radishes with brilliant fuchsia skin covering pale pink, purple, and white striated flesh. I like to serve thin slices with goat cheese as an appetizer. But there’s no hurry to use these up; the roots will hold in the fridge for months.
Days to Harvest: 50
Zones: 4-8
Kale
Kale is the quintessential vegetable for late summer planting. Like Daikon radishes, kale appreciates warm soil for seeding and cool weather as it matures.
If you like baby kale, cut off some little leaves three weeks after seeding. Otherwise, it will be 60 days for leaves to mature.
Kale does well with frost, which sweetens the taste of the greens, and it’s possible to keep on harvesting the leaves well into winter.
Days to Harvest: 21-60
Zones: 4-7
Green Beans
Only gardeners in lower hardiness zones should plant snap peas; in the warmer zones, plant green beans instead. These are one of my late summer staples in San Francisco, where the plants keep churning out the pods for months. Choose bush beans for a shorter time to harvest.
Days to Harvest: 50-80
Zones: 6-10
Spinach
Can you grow spinach in an August garden? Yes, you can! It’s easier than planting in spring since the days are getting cooler and shorter as fall approaches, making it less likely the spinach plants will bolt (or turn to flowers). That also means a fall crop offers a longer harvest then a spring crop of spinach.
Navigate between hot weather in August and fall freezes by waiting until mid-August to plant, watering well during warm weather, and preparing winter protection with fabric row covers for when the chilly days arrive.
Days to Harvest: 30-60
Zones: 4-8
Beets grow fast and mature quickly. Even better, you can eat both the leaves and the greens. It’s easy to plant beets in August — but if you live in zones 9 and above, hold off seeding until late in the month for a winter crop.
Days to Harvest: 50
Zones: 4-10
Flowers to Plant in August
Dahlias
I love lush and showy dahlia flowers. While dahlia tubers are normally planted in mid-summer, if you select a variety that matures quickly you can succeed with them in an early August planting.
There are hundreds of varieties and cultivars, so opt for dahlia varieties that bloom quickly and pick tubers that have already sprouted.
A few fast-growing selections include Wine-Eyed Jill, Peaches ‘n’ Cream, and Wizard of Oz.
Buy the tubers, plant in a full sun location, and enjoy fall blooms right up until the first freeze. If you have cold winters, dig up the tubers after the first frost and store indoors until spring.
Days to Flower: 60
Zones: 8-10
Marigolds
Marigolds are the ultimate cheery garden plant. They grow fast and fill your garden beds with bright, flame-colored flowers. You’ll have no trouble finding marigold starts in your garden store, and it takes no time at all to install them in your landscape in a sunny location, giving you immediate blossoms.
Alternatively, in warm winter regions, you can plant seeds in early August for flowering in autumn. They can germinate in as few as four days.
Bright and easy-growing, marigolds add color spots to your backyard, but they also have other attributes a gardener will appreciate. First, the flowers attract bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. And second, their roots contain chemicals that deter harmful insects, making them a great flower to intermix in your vegetable garden.
Days to Flower: 40-50
Zones: 2-11 (annual in all zones)