What Should I Grow?
American seed quizzes don’t know where you live. This one starts with your city: every suggestion is measured against your real frost-free season, and you’re told how many days of margin you actually have.
What should I grow in my Canadian garden?
It depends first on your frost-free season length, which runs from roughly 110 days in the northern Prairies to over 200 days on coastal British Columbia (Environment and Climate Change Canada climate normals). A pumpkin wants about 100 days: comfortable in Toronto, but barely 5 days of margin in Thunder Bay once you allow for soil that has to warm up first. Pick your city, space and experience below and the tool compares each crop’s days-to-maturity against your actual season, then ranks what suits you best.
What this ranking rests on
Season length and frost dates are measured data (ECCC climate normals). Days-to-maturity are conventional published horticultural figures. But “easy”, “suits pots”, “keeps well” and yield are judgements, not measurements — kept consistent with our own growing guides, though your experience may differ. The season filter docks tender crops 10 days for soil that has to warm up first — you cannot sow a bean on your last-frost date. Perennials are judged differently: they are filtered on your city’s hardiness zone, and the zone shown for each is the threshold where it is reliable, not its absolute survival edge.
Most vegetable seeds sprout faster in warm soil than on a cool Canadian windowsill. A heat mat under the tray warms the soil, not the room.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the easiest vegetables to grow in Canada?
Radishes (28 days), leaf lettuce, arugula, bush beans, zucchini and Swiss chard are forgiving and mature anywhere in Canada. Kale and spinach actually improve after the first light frosts. What to avoid in a first year: celery, which needs 10-12 weeks indoors and punishes any dry spell, and cauliflower, which buttons from the slightest stress.
Why are some crops flagged as tight?
Because they have little margin where you are. The window between your two frosts is a theoretical maximum: you cannot sow a squash on your last-frost date, the soil is still too cold, so tender crops are docked 10 days before the comparison. Concretely, a pumpkin (about 100 days) keeps 5 days’ margin in Thunder Bay and 8 in Winnipeg — doable, but one cool summer from failing — while being comfortable in Toronto. It is a warning rather than a refusal: an indoor start or an early variety often changes the answer.
How is this different from an American seed quiz?
An American quiz asks your preferences and recommends from a catalogue. It does not know the constraint that decides everything here: your frost-free season length, which ranges from roughly 110 days in the northern Prairies to over 200 days on coastal British Columbia. This tool starts from that figure, taken from Environment and Climate Change Canada climate normals.