Seasonal guide

July Planting Guide for Warm-Season Gardens

Updated for July · 3 min read

July is peak season for the heat lovers, and there is still time to add to them. Here is what to plant now while it is warm, and how to tell what still has time to ripen where you garden.

Why July suits the heat lovers

Midsummer is when warm-season vegetables hit their stride. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, summer squash, and beans all want exactly what July gives them: long days and warm soil. If yours are already in, this is the month they start to reward you. If a bed has opened up, there is still room for more.

What you can still start

Some warm-season plants grow fast enough to start now and still finish before the season turns in most temperate gardens:

• Bush beans. About 50 to 55 days from seed, and they feed the soil as they grow.
• Cucumbers. A fresh sowing now often sidesteps the early-season pests that trouble spring plants.
• Summer squash and zucchini. A new plant can outproduce a tired spring one.

Direct sowing works well in warm soil. Keep the top inch (2.5 cm) evenly moist until the seedlings are up, since summer soil dries out fast.

What to hold for a few weeks

The cool-season vegetables, lettuce and spinach and the like, tend to struggle in high heat. They are happier started a little later, as the nights begin to ease. There is no rush; their window is coming.

The part that depends on your garden

Whether a warm-season planting has time to ripen depends on your local climate, not the date on the calendar. Some gardens have a long, warm run ahead. Others are closer to the turn than they look. A generic guide cannot tell the difference. Verna reads your local conditions and each plant's needs, and tells you what still fits and when to start it, specific to where you garden.

See what still has time in your garden

Verna maps sowing, transplanting, and harvest timing to your exact spot.