TIMING
Plant Hardiness Zones
There are nine zones across Canada that help tell us what can be grown where, with a rating of 0 being the harshest and 8 the most mild. Montreal is considered a Zone 5A, and has a very short growing season and hot summer. Because of this, we recommend taking a very seasonal approach to your vegetable garden. With a row cover for protection from light frosts, you can start your spring planting at the beginning of April, your summer planting at the end of May, and your fall planting at the beginning of September. Fall planting should last you until mid- to late-November, but should be wrapped up in early October if you want to try your hand at winter planting.
Different vegetables have different temperature and time requirements for reaching maturity. Because Montreal’s growing season is so short, some vegetables – like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, onion, broccoli, and cabbage – should be started indoors and then transplanted into the garden.
Here is a sample of some seasonal plants you can put in your garden. For more detailed information on the needs of individual vegetables, you can check them out in our catalogue.
SEASONS
GARDEN PLAN
Here is an example garden plan for a 10′ x 3′ garden. Keep in mind that tall vegetables and climbing vegetables on a trellis need to go to the north side of the garden.
All dates are for planting in Montreal, which is in planting Zone 5a.
Spring planting – 1st week of April
Summer – 3rd week of May
Fall – 1st week of september
