What to Plant in March in Zone 8: Cool Crops Plus Warm-Season Starts
In USDA zone 8, March finishes cool-season and fruit windows, then opens asparagus, flowers, melons, and tomatoes, peppers, beans, and squash near last fr...
Published by ThriveThyme
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What to Plant in March in Zone 8
In USDA zone 8, March is a bridge month. Cool-season greens, roots, brassicas, peas, and cover crops that opened mid-February stay open into April. Early March adds asparagus, cilantro, and spring flowers. Mid-month opens melons, eggplant, okra, cucumber, and sweet potato. From about March 20, tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, corn, and warm herbs start as last frost nears.
Typical last frost for zone 8 averages around March 25. Confirm with the first-frost lookup and the first frost guide. Also check the zone 8 March calendar and what to plant now.
Finish Cool-Season Beds and Fruit
Keep sowing while February-April windows fit:
- Greens: lettuce, spinach, arugula, kale, collards, Swiss chard, bok choy. Lettuce, spinach, kale.
- Roots: radish, beet, turnip, parsnip, carrot. Radish, beet, carrot.
- Brassicas, peas, onions, cool herbs, and cover crops (crimson clover, hairy vetch, oats, winter peas). Pea, broccoli.
- Dormant fruit (apple, peach, pear, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, table grape) runs about February 15 to March 20. Fig opened about February 20. Apple tree, blueberry.
Early-to-Mid March Warm Starts
From about March 1: asparagus, cilantro, and flowers such as bachelor's button, black-eyed Susan, columbine, dianthus, hollyhock, lupine, nasturtium, and purple coneflower. From about March 15: cantaloupe, watermelon, eggplant, okra, cucumbers, and sweet potato. Asparagus, cantaloupe, eggplant.
Late March Warm-Season Block
From about March 20: tomato (including cherry, roma, beefsteak, brandywine, yellow pear), peppers (banana, cayenne, jalapeño, poblano), beans and pole beans, squash and pumpkin, sweet corn, basil, rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, marjoram, French tarragon, and summer flowers such as zinnia, cosmos, sunflower, and morning glory. Benary's Giant zinnia and Mammoth sunflower open about March 25. Tomato, bean, squash.
Next Steps
Overlap cool-season finishes with warm starts, plant tomatoes and peppers near last frost, and finish dormant fruit before mid-to-late March. Compare February zone 8, March zone 7, and March zone 9.