Spring in Texas lasts about six weeks — if you’re lucky. That narrow window between “still freezing” and “already 95°F” is where your best gardening happens. Miss it, and you’re either replanting frost-killed seedlings or watching heat-tolerant vegetables tomatoes drop their blossoms.

The trick is knowing exactly when your spring window opens and closes — because in Texas, that depends entirely on where you live.

When Does Spring Planting Start?

Your spring planting season starts 4–6 weeks before your last expected frost date for cool-season crops, and right around your last frost date for warm-season crops. Here’s a quick reference:

  • zone-by-zone planting guide 7a–7b (Panhandle/Lubbock): Spring starts mid-March for cool crops, mid-April for warm crops
  • Zone 8a (DFW/East Texas): Spring starts mid-February for cool crops, late March for warm crops
  • Zone 8b (Austin/San Antonio): Spring starts late January for cool crops, early March for warm crops
  • Zone 9a–9b (Houston/Corpus Christi): Spring starts January for cool crops, mid-February for warm crops
  • Zone 10a (Rio Grande Valley): You’ve been planting since October. Spring is a concept, not a constraint.

March: The Main Event

For most of Texas, March is the busiest planting month. Here’s what goes in the ground and when.

Early March (Zones 8a–9b)

Transplant now:

  • Tomatoes — Get them in by March 10 in Zones 8b–9b. Varieties: ‘Celebrity’ (reliable determinate), ‘Better Boy’ (classic indeterminate), ‘Solar Fire’ (heat-tolerant), ‘Juliet’ (prolific grape type). Harden off transplants for a week before planting. Set them deep — bury 2/3 of the stem. Those buried nodes become roots.
  • Peppers — Bell peppers, jalapeños, serranos. They’re slower to establish than tomatoes, so get them in early. They need 65°F soil minimum.
  • Eggplant — Often overlooked but well-suited to Texas. ‘Black Beauty’ and ‘Ichiban’ are solid picks.

Direct sow now:

  • Snap beans — ‘Contender,’ ‘Provider,’ ‘Blue Lake.’ Sow 1 inch deep, 3 inches apart. Soil needs to be 60°F+.
  • Squash and zucchini — ‘Black Beauty’ zucchini, ‘Yellow Crookneck,’ ‘Tatume’ (a Texas favorite — incredible heat tolerance and flavor). Direct sow in hills.
  • Cucumbers — ‘Marketmore 76,’ ‘Straight Eight,’ ‘Armenian’ (for extended summer harvest).

Still going from winter:

  • Lettuce, spinach, kale, and other cool-season crops planted in January and February should be producing heavily now. Harvest aggressively — they’ll bolt within a few weeks as temperatures climb.

Mid-to-Late March (Zones 7b–8a)

If you’re in DFW, Tyler, or the Panhandle fringe, mid-to-late March is your transplanting window for warm-season crops. The same varieties apply, but keep frost protection handy. A late cold front can still drop below freezing through the end of March in Zone 8a.

Pro Tip: Keep a stack of old bed sheets or lightweight row cover fabric ready through the end of March. If the forecast shows a dip below 35°F, draping your transplants takes five minutes and saves weeks of growth. Don’t use plastic directly on plants — it conducts cold and can actually freeze the leaves it touches.

April: Full Speed Ahead

By April, most of Texas is frost-free and the spring garden is in high gear.

What to Plant in April

Direct sow:

  • Southern peas (black-eyed peas, cream peas) — Wait until soil temperature hits 65°F. In most of Texas, that’s early to mid-April.
  • Okra — Soak seeds overnight, then sow 1 inch deep after soil consistently reaches 70°F. In Zones 8b–9b, that’s early April. In Zone 8a, wait until mid-April.
  • Sweet corn — ‘Silver Queen,’ ‘Peaches and Cream,’ ‘Honey Select.’ Sow in blocks of at least 4 rows for pollination. Corn needs 65°F soil.
  • Lima beans — Need warmer soil than snap beans. Wait until 70°F.
  • Melons — Cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew. Direct sow mid-April in Zones 8b+. ‘Crimson Sweet’ watermelon and ‘Hale’s Best’ cantaloupe are proven Texas performers.

Transplant:

  • Sweet potato slips — Available at garden centers in April. ‘Beauregard’ and ‘Covington’ are the most reliable. Plant in loose, well-drained soil.
  • Herbs — Basil (wait until nighttime temps are above 55°F), rosemary, oregano, thyme. Rosemary is practically a native plant in Central Texas — it loves the limestone soil and heat.

What to Start Watching

April is when pest pressure ramps up. Start scouting for:

  • Tomato hornworms — Handpick. One hornworm can defoliate a tomato plant in two days.
  • Squash vine borers — Look for sawdust-like frass at the base of squash stems. In Zones 8b–9b, wrap the lower 6 inches of stem with aluminum foil as a barrier.
  • Aphids — A strong blast of water from the hose knocks off most populations. Ladybugs handle the rest.

May: Wrapping Up and Transitioning

May in Texas is the transition from spring to summer. In the southern half of the state, triple-digit days are already showing up. In the north, you’ve got a few more weeks of pleasant weather.

What to Plant in May

Zone 7a–7b (Panhandle): This is your prime warm-season planting month. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans — everything you couldn’t plant in March or April goes in now.

Zone 8a (DFW): Last call for:

  • Melons and watermelons (direct sow by May 10)
  • Sweet potato slips (by May 15)
  • Okra (through May)

Zones 8b–9b (Central and South Texas): May is more about maintenance than planting. Focus on:

  • Keeping tomatoes watered and mulched as heat increases
  • Harvesting squash and beans regularly to keep plants producing
  • Starting to think about your fall garden plan (yes, already)

May Succession Planting

For continuous harvest, plant a second round of:

  • Bush beans — Every 2–3 weeks through May for an extended harvest
  • Squash — ‘Tatume’ planted in May will produce through July when other varieties have given up
  • Cucumbers — A May planting replaces the ones that petered out, extending harvest into July

Spring Vegetables: Variety Quick Reference

Here’s a cheat sheet of proven spring varieties for Texas, organized by crop:

Tomatoes: ‘Celebrity’ (Zone 7–8, reliable), ‘Better Boy’ (big slicer), ‘Solar Fire’ (heat-tolerant, set fruit in higher temps), ‘Juliet’ (grape, disease-resistant), ‘Sweet 100’ (cherry, prolific), ‘BHN 968’ (commercial quality, excellent disease package)

Peppers: ‘Jalapeño M,’ ‘Serrano Tampiqueno,’ ‘Anaheim,’ ‘NuMex Big Jim,’ ‘Giant Marconi’ (sweet), ‘Carmen’ (sweet roaster)

Squash: ‘Tatume’ (the Texas squash — period), ‘Black Beauty’ zucchini, ‘Yellow Crookneck,’ ‘Tromboncino’ (climbing, vine borer resistant)

Beans: ‘Contender’ (bush, fast), ‘Kentucky Wonder’ (pole, classic), ‘Provider’ (bush, cold-tolerant for early planting), ‘Jade’ (bush, heat-tolerant)

Cucumbers: ‘Marketmore 76,’ ‘Straight Eight,’ ‘Armenian’ (heat-tolerant), ‘Suyo Long’ (Asian type, handles heat)

Common Spring Mistakes

Planting too early. Enthusiasm is great. Dead transplants aren’t. Use soil temperature — not air temperature, not the calendar — as your guide. A $10 soil thermometer is the best garden tool you’ll buy.

Not hardening off transplants. Moving a plant from a 72°F greenhouse to a 55°F, windy March day is a shock. Give transplants a week of gradually increasing outdoor exposure before planting.

Skipping mulch. Bare soil in spring means weeds, moisture loss, and rapidly climbing soil temperatures. Mulch 3–4 inches deep after planting. Pull it back slightly from stems to prevent rot.

Ignoring the fall garden. Texas gives you two growing seasons. If you’re only planting in spring, you’re leaving half your potential harvest on the table. Start planning your fall garden in May — transplants of tomatoes, peppers, and brassicas for fall planting need to start indoors in June or July.

Overwatering. New gardeners water every day. Established vegetable gardens in spring typically need 1 inch per week. Water deeply, less often. Check soil moisture at 2 inches deep before watering — if it’s moist, wait.

Set Yourself Up Right

Spring is where Texas gardeners make their year. Get the timing right, choose varieties proven in our conditions, and you’ll be eating homegrown tomatoes by May and fresh okra by June. For the complete system — planting calendars by zone, soil prep for Texas clay and caliche, irrigation strategies, and month-by-month to-do lists — check out Harvest Home Guides: Texas Vegetable Gardening. It’s everything you need to make this spring your most productive one yet.

📚 Want the complete guide? Texas Vegetable Gardening covers everything you need — planting calendars, variety picks, soil strategies, and more — all tailored to your region. Browse the Harvest Home Guides series →