What can I plant in zone 7a? What do garden zones mean? Check out the answers to some common questions and some garden pictures for inspiration!
These pictures are from the last week of June 2024. Check out our garden in the last week of May 2024 to see what a month’s time can do to a garden! All of our gardening content can be found here!
What does it mean to garden in Zone 7a?
We live in Zone 7a. This means that we have a hardiness temperature range of 0-5 degrees. Meaning, if a plant can survive that cold of a temperature through the winter without dying, then it is a perennial in our area. So when I’m looking for perennials, I’m looking for plants that can handle that temperature. For example, lilacs can handle temperatures as low as -40 degrees Farenheit. Dahlias on the other hand, won’t survive overwintering in zonnes where the winter temperature drops below 20 degrees Farenheit.
Is July to late to start a garden?
July can be too late to start a garden depending on the zone that you’re in and when your first predicted frost date is. If you’re buying plants that have already been grown you can probably get some harvest if your last frost is Mid-Late October. Also, you can plant cold hardy plants that don’t do as well in the heat like brussel sprouts, lettuce, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach!
What you need to do is find out when your first frost date is. You can search this on a farmer’s almanac website. Figure out how many days from now your last frost date is. My area’s first frost date is supposed to be October 19th. From July 1st, that is 110 days. Next I search online for plants that will be harvestable by that time. There is a long list so I could get some plants into the garden now that I already have and have a second harvest in early October.
The thing to account for is that as the summer goes on, the light lessens and the temperatures will cool which does make it take longer for plants to be harvestable. If you have seeds or plant starts free or very cheap, I encourage you to try it and learn!
What to plant in July in Zone 7a?
That being said, towards the end of July I am going to be starting more of all the cold hardy plants: brussel sprouts, lettuce, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach. I’m hoping to also take some of my suckers from the tomato plants and plant those for a secondary later harvest in early fall.
What can I grow in Zone 7a?
Below is my plant list for this year for our Zone 7a garden. These are plants that we have consistently and successfully grown in our area. Our garden is almost entirely full sun, meaning there is no shade except for in small parts. We grow with organic soil and compost and don’t currently practice crop rotation due to the size of our yard.
This is not a comprehensive list, but it’s a great list of plants that you can grow in a backyard garden in zone 7a.
Let me know if you have any questions and what plants you grow in the zone that you are in!
My Zone 7A Plant List:
Perennial Produce/Herbs:
Raspberries
Sage
Strawberries
Peppermint
Thyme
Oregano
Yarrow
Chives
Perennial Flowers:
Echinacea (Paradiso echinacea pictured below on the left)
Hydrangeas
Irises
Lilacs
Lillies
Lambs Ear
Roses
Annuals that reseed themselves: (They come back each year but are not considered perennials)
Amaranth
Sorrel
Borage
Chamomile
Annual Flowers:
Snapdragons (pictured above)
Dahlias
Strawflowers
Zinnias
Bell’s of Ireland
Gomphrena
Cosmos
Bee balm
Annual Produce/Herbs:
Tomatoes
Peppers
Basil
Green Beans (Pole and Bush)
Kale (This variety is called blue dwarf. It has been a fantastic producer!)
Lettuce
Spinach
Cucumbers
Ground Cherry
Fava Beans
Brussel Sprouts
Onions
Garlic
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Melons
Sweet Potatoes
Potatoes
Squash
In Conclusion:
I love that The Homesmiths has become a way to help me be more diligent in gardening. Each time I share an update I want to be able to say I’ve done stuff that needed doing and I want to be aware of what could be different for next year’s garden. This is how I keep myself accountable!
To-Do list:
Weed. I’ve been shamefully negligent in this.
Spray neem oil. Our potato and sweet potato plants are getting hit with aphids so we purchased neem oil that we want to spray on it in the evening. If that doesn’t work than we will consider purchasing ladybugs if that’s a possibility in our area.
Harvest more kale! We have so much of it already and last year it grew through December. I want to stay on top of it even though it feels monotonous.
Tomato tape and prune suckers. I did this in the beginning of June but I think all 35 tomato plants are in desperate need of both.
Planning for 2025’s Zone 7a Garden:
Don’t plant the brussel sprouts or cauliflower so close to other plants. These plants are doing great but their leaves are too big and impeding the growth of the plants around them. I also had anticipated harvesting both of these a lot sooner.
More compost over the winter. I think that because we don’t rotate the crops due to the size of our garden, I need to be more intentional about putting a lot of compost in the garden over winter and then again at planting time.
Move the amaranth plants to the back of the flower garden. I don’t think they will be the tallest plant overall but they grew so fast that they feel oddly placed because of how tall they are compared to the other flowers.
That’s everything for the late June/early July Backyard Garden Tour. Let me know what zone you’re gardening in and if we have some plants in common!
Save it for later!
