Gardening in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
This metro spans USDA zones 7a to 7b, so there is no single zone for Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 93% of its ZIP codes are zone 7b; the rest are not.
Which zone you are in depends where you are
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN covers 2 hardiness zones. A guide that gives the metro one zone has picked whichever is largest and rounded everyone else into it — which is fine for the 93% in zone 7b and wrong for the other 7%. Here is the actual split.
| Zone | ZIP codes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7b | 102 | 93% | |
| 7a | 8 | 7% |
Zones are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact even though the metro's is not. The hardiness tool will tell you which one you are in.
Your freeze dates
Those are the earliest and latest medians among the 39 stations serving this metro — not an average, and not one station standing in for the rest. Half of years freeze later than a station's own median.
The spread is the point. Even in a metro that is one hardiness zone throughout, its stations disagree about the last spring freeze. Hardiness zone and frost date measure different things — a zone is the average annual coldest night, a freeze date is when the season turns — and a place can be uniform in one and varied in the other. Use the tools below with your own ZIP rather than the ends of this range.
Your growing season
NOAA publishes a growing-season length for each station, and across the 39 stations serving Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN it runs 184–217 days . That figure is published, not computed from the two freeze dates — subtracting one from the other gives the wrong answer wherever a season crosses New Year. Mean summer high (June–August) runs 85–90 °F , below the 90 °F point where cool-season crops reliably bolt.
When to start seeds in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
Every spring job for 63 crop dates, counted from this metro's own last spring freeze. Each is a range across all 39 stations — the earliest and latest that job falls anywhere in the metro — because no one station speaks for the whole area.
| Crop | Job | When | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Onions | Start indoors | February 3 – February 20 | 8 weeks before |
| Peppers | Start indoors | February 3 – February 20 | 8 weeks before |
| Broccoli | Start indoors | February 17 – March 6 | 6 weeks before |
| Cabbage | Start indoors | February 17 – March 6 | 6 weeks before |
| Collards | Start indoors | February 17 – March 6 | 6 weeks before |
| Kale | Start indoors | February 17 – March 6 | 6 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Start indoors | February 17 – March 6 | 6 weeks before |
| Peas | Direct sow | February 17 – March 6 | 6 weeks before |
| Spinach | Direct sow | February 17 – March 6 | 6 weeks before |
| Sweet Potato | Start indoors | February 17 – March 6 | 6 weeks before |
| Tomatoes | Start indoors | February 17 – March 6 | 6 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Start indoors | February 24 – March 13 | 5 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Start indoors | February 24 – March 13 | 5 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Start indoors | February 24 – March 13 | 5 weeks before |
| Arugula | Direct sow | March 3 – March 20 | 4 weeks before |
| Baby Salad Greens | Direct sow | March 3 – March 20 | 4 weeks before |
| Beets | Direct sow | March 3 – March 20 | 4 weeks before |
| Green Onions | Direct sow | March 3 – March 20 | 4 weeks before |
| Mustard Greens | Direct sow | March 3 – March 20 | 4 weeks before |
| Okra | Start indoors | March 3 – March 20 | 4 weeks before |
| Radishes | Direct sow | March 3 – March 20 | 4 weeks before |
| Turnips | Direct sow | March 3 – March 20 | 4 weeks before |
| Cabbage | Set out | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Carrots | Direct sow | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Collards | Direct sow | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Collards | Set out | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Cucumbers | Start indoors | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Green Onions | Set out | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Kale | Direct sow | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Kale | Set out | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Direct sow | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Set out | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Direct sow | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Pumpkins | Start indoors | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Summer Squash | Start indoors | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Winter Squash | Start indoors | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Zucchini | Start indoors | March 10 – March 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Direct sow | March 17 – April 3 | 2 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Set out | March 17 – April 3 | 2 weeks before |
| Broccoli | Set out | March 17 – April 3 | 2 weeks before |
| Cilantro | Direct sow | March 17 – April 3 | 2 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Set out | March 17 – April 3 | 2 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Direct sow | March 17 – April 3 | 2 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Set out | March 17 – April 3 | 2 weeks before |
| Dill | Direct sow | March 24 – April 10 | 1 week before |
| Bush Beans | Direct sow | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Cucumbers | Set out | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Pumpkins | Direct sow | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Pumpkins | Set out | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Summer Squash | Direct sow | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Summer Squash | Set out | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Sweet Corn | Direct sow | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Tomatoes | Set out | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Winter Squash | Direct sow | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Winter Squash | Set out | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Zucchini | Direct sow | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Zucchini | Set out | April 7 – April 24 | 1 week after |
| Cucumbers | Direct sow | April 14 – May 1 | 2 weeks after |
| Okra | Direct sow | April 14 – May 1 | 2 weeks after |
| Okra | Set out | April 14 – May 1 | 2 weeks after |
| Peppers | Set out | April 14 – May 1 | 2 weeks after |
| Southern Peas | Direct sow | April 14 – May 1 | 2 weeks after |
| Sweet Potato | Set out | April 14 – May 1 | 2 weeks after |
The week offsets are conventional extension guidance and vary by variety; the freeze dates they are counted from are measured. For a single date rather than a range, run when do I start my seeds? with your own ZIP code.
What survives the winter changes across Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
Of 74 perennial fruits, nuts, berries, vegetables and herbs, 58 come through the winter in zone 7a and only 56 in zone 7b. That is a different garden at each end of the same metro.
| Zone | ZIPs | Survive | Fail for being too warm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7a | 8 | 58 of 74 | 1 |
| 7b | 102 | 56 of 74 | 3 |
The last column is the counterintuitive one, and it is why the totals do not simply rise as the winters get milder. Most temperate fruit needs a documented number of hours below about 45 °F to break dormancy and set a crop, so an apple fails in a winter that is too warm; currants and rhubarb cook in the summer heat that comes with it. See the full list with reasons.
The 39 stations behind these numbers
Every figure above comes from these, and each is named so you can check it. Distances vary by ZIP code, so the tools report yours rather than this page guessing.
| Station | NOAA ID | Last spring freeze | First fall freeze | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethpage 1 S, TN | USC00400669 | April 16 | October 23 | 189 days |
| Brentwood, TN | USC00401039 | April 15 | October 26 | 193 days |
| Carthage, TN | USC00401480 | April 10 | October 29 | 201 days |
| Centerville 4Ne, TN | USC00401585 | April 11 | October 27 | 199 days |
| Centerville Water Pl, TN | USC00401587 | April 11 | October 24 | 196 days |
| Charlotte, TN | USC00401640 | April 11 | October 26 | 198 days |
| Cheatham L&D, TN | USC00401663 | April 9 | November 1 | 206 days |
| Christiana 5W, TN | USC00401720 | April 14 | October 25 | 192 days |
| Clarksville WWTP, TN | USC00401790 | April 3 | November 1 | 212 days |
| Columbia 3 Wnw, TN | USC00401957 | April 10 | October 27 | 199 days |
| Dickson, TN | USC00402489 | April 13 | October 25 | 195 days |
| Fairview Bowie Nat Ctr, TN | USC00402989 | April 7 | October 31 | 209 days |
| Franklin Sewage Plt, TN | USC00403280 | April 3 | October 31 | 210 days |
| Gladeville, TN | USC00403465 | April 16 | October 21 | 187 days |
| Goodlettsville 7Wnw, TN | USC00403636 | April 7 | October 28 | 204 days |
| Hartsville, TN | USC00403938 | April 12 | October 26 | 196 days |
| Kingston Springs, TN | USC00404876 | April 13 | October 25 | 195 days |
| Lafayette, TN | USC00404987 | April 3 | November 1 | 213 days |
| Lancaster Edgar Evins Marina, TN | USC00405035 | April 3 | November 4 | 215 days |
| Lebanon 7 N, TN | USC00405118 | April 10 | October 30 | 202 days |
| Lebanon, TN | USC00405108 | April 6 | October 28 | 206 days |
| Lewisburg Exp Stn, TN | USC00405187 | April 14 | October 22 | 192 days |
| Lobelville, TN | USC00405358 | April 13 | October 24 | 195 days |
| Montgomery Bell SP, TN | USC00406180 | April 16 | October 26 | 193 days |
| Mt Pleasant 1N, TN | USC00406340 | April 5 | October 28 | 204 days |
| Murfreesboro 5 N, TN | USC00406371 | April 9 | October 27 | 202 days |
| Nashville Berry FLD, TN | USC00406403 | April 4 | October 31 | 209 days |
| Nashville INTL AP, TN | USW00013897 | March 31 | November 3 | 217 days |
| Old Hickory Dam, TN | USC00406803 | April 11 | October 29 | 200 days |
| Old Hickory Wfo, TN | USC00406806 | April 1 | November 4 | 216 days |
| Portland Sewage Plt, TN | USC00407359 | April 5 | November 1 | 210 days |
| Scottsville, KY | USC00157215 | April 15 | October 25 | 194 days |
| Shelby Bottoms Nature, TN | USC00408238 | April 1 | October 31 | 213 days |
| Smyrna 6S, TN | USC00408414 | April 13 | October 21 | 189 days |
| Springfield Exp Stn, TN | USC00408562 | April 9 | October 28 | 201 days |
| Thompson Stn, TN | USC00408953 | April 3 | November 1 | 211 days |
| Warner Park, TN | USC00409431 | April 6 | November 1 | 208 days |
| White House, TN | USC00409709 | April 7 | October 30 | 206 days |
| Woodbury 1 Wnw, TN | USC00409866 | April 17 | October 21 | 184 days |
These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.
Work out your own dates
Each of these takes a ZIP code and answers for that ZIP alone, citing the station it used and how far away it is. There is a ZIP box in the header of every page.
- What survives my winter?
Runs on the hardiness zone, so it answers for all of Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN at once — zone across 74 perennial fruits, berries, vegetables and herbs.
- When do I start my seeds?
Dates every spring job from your own last freeze — sow indoors, set out, direct sow.
- When do I sow the next round?
How often each crop is worth re-sowing, and when the next sowing is due.
- What can I still plant?
Counts the growing days left before your first fall freeze, crop by crop.
Where these numbers come from
The hardiness zone is the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, published per ZIP code by PRISM at Oregon State. The freeze dates are NOAA's 1991–2020 Climate Normals, read from every station whose normals cover a ZIP code in this metro. Nothing here is estimated, and no station stands in for another.
This page names no single station on purpose. Picking one to represent a metro sounds reasonable and is not: the station serving the most ZIP codes is an artifact of where ZIP centroids happen to fall, and it selects a lock on the Monongahela for Pittsburgh and a far southern suburb for Chicago. A range across every station is true; a single cited date for a whole metro is not.