North America
Gardening in Canada
Short intense summers and long committed winters, softened on both coasts.
The numbers that decide your year
- Growing zones
- Canadian 0–9 · continental to maritime
- Last spring frost
- Mid May to mid June
- First autumn frost
- Early September to October
- Rainfall
- 400–1500 mm
The local challenge
Squeezing a full harvest into ninety frost-free days.
Rules worth knowing
Provincial rules govern plant imports and some invasive species; municipal water restrictions are common in summer.
How people actually garden here
- Short-season vegetable gardens
- Native woodland
- Prairie planting
- Cold frames
Native to this country
Plants that evolved here. They ask least of you and give most back to local insects and birds.
Reliable in this climate
Introduced rather than native, but proven in these conditions. Each links to its full encyclopedia entry.
Seasonal jobs
Open the calendarThe calendar reads your device clock and orders every job for the northern hemisphere.
The printed guide
The Canada Gardening Guide
264 pages written for this country alone: its soil, its frost dates, its rules and the plants that reward the effort. Everything on this page, expanded and in your hands.
- Ninety-day harvest planning
- Cold frames and season extension
- Overwintering perennials properly
- Native woodland planting
- Snow as insulation
- Zone maps by province
€9.95264 pages · PDF download