What to Plant in March

Various herbs and vegetables in a raised garden bed. The soil is visible with the PVC irrigation pipes showing through the vegetables that are growing. The vegetables and herbs are green in color. There are red onions, celery, cilantro, and dill growing.
Raised garden beds made of wood, with soil visible. There are various rrot vegetables growing in these raised garden beds. The vegetables tops are green in color with splashes of purple.
There are small sunflower sprouts starting to emerge from the earth. The sprouts are green in color and still have the shell attached.

March is an interesting month here in Phoenix.  Normally it is beautiful, but from what I was able to track down, we have actually had a 100 degree day here in the Valley.  Due to this it’s important to figure out what to plant in March, and get it right.

From March on, things will only continue to get warmer, until they are darn right hot.  That means the vegetables you plant now, either need to be ones that can survive the Phoenix summer, or ones that mature fairly quickly (usually around 60-90 days) or they will not make it to harvest.

March is also a wonderful time to get out there and check your irrigation systems to make sure they are still working the way you want.  It’s much more pleasant to fix a problem now in the cooler weather, than trying to fix it in the summer heat when you plants are dying due to lack of water.

As always, some vegetables do better planted from seed, and others are better off being transplanted. Below you will find what works best for what. If they do equally well from both seed or transplant, you will see that listed below as well.

Since the month of March heats up more towards the end, some vegetables will need to be planted after the 15th and those will be noted below.

Let's get into it... Here is a list of what to plant in March

These typically do best from Transplant:

  • Blackberries
  • Eggplant
  • Ginger (from Rhizome)
  • Grapes
  • Ground Cherry
  • Peppers
  • Sweet Potatoes (from Slips)
  • Tomatillos
  • Tomatoes

These typically do best from Seed:

  • Radishes
  • Snake Beans (Yardlong beans) – Best after the 15th.
  • Sunflowers
  • Watermelon

These grow equally well from Seed or Transplant:

  • Artichoke (Jerusalem)
  • Basil
  • Cantaloupe
  • Cucumber (Armenian)
  • Cucumber (Regular)
  • Malabar Spinach
  • Okra – Best after the 15th.
  • Pumpkin
  • Roselle Hibiscus – Best after the 15th.
  • Squash (Summer)

If you want a head start, you can plant these seeds indoors for planting later in the month:

  • Roselle Hibiscus
Be sure to take some time to relax in your garden.
rosella, nature, fruit-7102161.jpg
Roselle Hibiscus is great for tea, juice and jams.

March is beautiful, but summer is only a couple of months away.  From Spring Training, to all the things that can be done in the garden this month, make sure to get outside with those you love and enjoy the great outdoors!

To your gardening success,

Aaron.