Growing Carrots in Delaware: Soil, Sowing and Forked Roots
Delaware’s official state soil, the Greenwich series, runs well drained and only mildly acid, which sounds encouraging for carrots.
Gardening in Delaware
Everything we have worked out for Delaware: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in Wilmington, the last spring freeze runs April 3 to April 14 and the first fall freeze runs October 26 to November 7, USDA zones 7a-8a, 3,937 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 21.8 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in Delaware: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
What to Plant in Delaware in September
September in Delaware still gives you a real planting window. The first fall frost at the Wilmington reference station lands between October 26 and…
What to Plant in Delaware in October
October in Delaware still lets you get garlic, shallots, and a handful of hardy greens into the ground, especially in the first half of the month before…
What to Plant in Delaware in November
Garlic and shallots are still the main event in Delaware gardens this month, going into ground that hasn’t frozen yet.
What to Plant in Delaware in May
May is Delaware’s green light month: the reference weather station’s frost window closed between April 3 and April 14, so by the time May opens…
What to Plant in Delaware in March
Late March in Delaware is the real start of the outdoor garden season, but the ground still isn’t safe for anything tender.
What to Plant in Delaware in June
June in Delaware means the frost risk from early April is long gone, so this is the month for warm-season crops that need real heat: tomatoes, peppers…
What to Plant in Delaware in July
Delaware gardeners plant fast-maturing summer crops early in July (bush beans, cucumbers, summer squash, okra) and start counting backward for fall…
What to Plant in Delaware in January
January puts almost nothing new into open ground in Delaware. Between the April 3 to April 14 last-frost window and the October 26 to November 7…
What to Plant in Delaware in February
In Delaware, February sits well ahead of the last spring frost window of April 3 to April 14, so the open garden bed stays mostly closed for business.