A planting calendar for Western Maryland - Ask Extension
I’m in need of a planting guide for fruits, vegetables and flowers.
Knowledgebase
A planting calendar for Western Maryland #924841
Asked February 20, 2026, 3:57 PM EST
I’m in need of a planting guide for fruits, vegetables and flowers.
Prince George's County Maryland
Expert Response
We don't have a guide for each of Maryland's regions, but you can adjust guidance given for central Maryland (such as the timing on our Vegetable Planting Calendar) by a week or more based on local temperature trends. (That is, delay dates by that amount of time if your weather is staying cooler.) To get a head start on some vegetable, herb, and flower seeds, they can be sown indoors under grow lights (or in a greenhouse) to get a few weeks of growth on them before gradually transitioning them to outdoor conditions.
We do not have a corresponding planting calendar for fruits because they are not typically started from seed and the cold-hardy fruits grown in Maryland (apple, cherry, etc.) can be planted any time the ground is workable. "Workable" in this context means not frozen and not too soggy from recent rains or snowmelt, since wet soil is too vulnerable to compaction that can suffocate roots. Those fruits not cold-hardy enough to be grown outside year-round, like citrus, avocado, and in most areas, pomegranate, need to be kept in containers and only grown outside between frost dates (about mid- or late May and early October, more or less, for our westernmost counties).
The temperature tolerances of flowering plants like annuals and perennials varies considerably and will depend on the species being grown. If you have a seed packet, germination instructions on the packet (or in a company's online catalog) should provide guidance regarding how much time before the last frost date they should be sown indoors. Since it's hard to provide enough light intensity for sun-loving plants indoors, seeds should not be started too early, which can lead to them getting leggy/floppy and struggling to thrive before it's safe to put them outside.
Some plants, like violas/pansies, snapdragons and calibrachoa ("million bells" petunia relatives), and cool-season veggies like green peas, grow best in the cooler temperatures of spring, while others like flowering vinca and warm-season veggies like tomatoes need milder temperatures to thrive and avoid certain fungal infections or nutrient deficiency problems in cool, wet spring weather.
Miri
We do not have a corresponding planting calendar for fruits because they are not typically started from seed and the cold-hardy fruits grown in Maryland (apple, cherry, etc.) can be planted any time the ground is workable. "Workable" in this context means not frozen and not too soggy from recent rains or snowmelt, since wet soil is too vulnerable to compaction that can suffocate roots. Those fruits not cold-hardy enough to be grown outside year-round, like citrus, avocado, and in most areas, pomegranate, need to be kept in containers and only grown outside between frost dates (about mid- or late May and early October, more or less, for our westernmost counties).
The temperature tolerances of flowering plants like annuals and perennials varies considerably and will depend on the species being grown. If you have a seed packet, germination instructions on the packet (or in a company's online catalog) should provide guidance regarding how much time before the last frost date they should be sown indoors. Since it's hard to provide enough light intensity for sun-loving plants indoors, seeds should not be started too early, which can lead to them getting leggy/floppy and struggling to thrive before it's safe to put them outside.
Some plants, like violas/pansies, snapdragons and calibrachoa ("million bells" petunia relatives), and cool-season veggies like green peas, grow best in the cooler temperatures of spring, while others like flowering vinca and warm-season veggies like tomatoes need milder temperatures to thrive and avoid certain fungal infections or nutrient deficiency problems in cool, wet spring weather.
Miri
