Growing Onions in North Carolina: Which Varieties Actually Bulb
Growing onions in North Carolina works best with intermediate-day and short-day varieties — the state sits at a latitude where the longest day of the…
Gardening in North Carolina
Everything we have worked out for North Carolina: 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 Charlotte, the last spring freeze runs March 23 to April 5 and the first fall freeze runs October 30 to November 8, USDA zones 5b-8b, 4,943 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 North Carolina: 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.
Planting Spring Bulbs in North Carolina: What Will Come Back, and What Will Not
Spring bulbs planted in North Carolina face two separate tests: a calendar test (getting them in the ground at the right moment) and a climate test…
The North Carolina Apple Calendar, Stage by Stage
A stage-by-stage guide to North Carolina’s apple calendar, keyed to Charlotte’s NOAA frost dates, with notes on how mountains and coast differ.
The Best Apple Varieties for North Carolina
Apple success in North Carolina depends on matching a variety’s winter chill requirement and bloom timing to your county’s elevation and frost dates, not its hardiness zone.
Watering a Garden in North Carolina: How Much, How Often, and the Local Rules
North Carolina gardens don’t follow one rulebook. A raised bed in the Piedmont clay around Charlotte behaves nothing like a bed on Blue Ridge slopes or…
When to Carve a Pumpkin in North Carolina
Charlotte’s mean first fall frost lands somewhere between October 30 and November 8, according to NOAA’s 1991-2020 Climate Normals.
North Carolina Planting Calendar: When to Sow and Plant, Frost Dates Included
This calendar uses NOAA’s Charlotte frost dates and seed-catalogue days-to-maturity to time cool-season, warm-season, and fall planting across North Carolina.
Growing Apples in North Carolina: Varieties, Timing and Frost Risk
Apple growing success in North Carolina hinges on matching variety, pollinator and frost timing to your specific elevation, from coastal plain to Blue Ridge mountains.
Heating a Home in North Carolina: What the Winter Actually Costs
North Carolina winters rarely punch hard, but they linger. That’s the real cost driver for anyone heating a home here: not extreme cold snaps, but months…
Gardening in North Carolina: What the Season Actually Allows
North Carolina’s growing season isn’t one thing. It runs from roughly 208 to 230 frost-free days depending on where you sit between the mountains and the…