Choose what to grow in your vegetable garden from this easy-to-grow menu of annual vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers divided into cool-season and warm-season.
When I first started gardening, I thought choosing what to grow would be the easy part.
How many different kinds of vegetables could there possibly be, anyway?
A lot.
I didn’t expect how paralyzing having so many options would feel. How do I choose what to put in my first garden without getting it wrong?
This mega list is what I wish I would’ve had then.
All the simplest options of what to plant in an annual vegetable garden broken down by warm season, cool season, herbs, and edible flowers.
Plus guidance on how having a few simple parameters will help you grow a garden you’ll actually use and enjoy. That’s how gardening becomes less overwhelming and more rewarding.
Below you’ll find a complete reference list of easy vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers to grow, along with questions and suggestions to help you narrow your choices and pick a set that makes sense for you. Choosing is easier when you have boundaries.
Think of this as a menu, not a checklist.
It’s OK to start small and only grow what you love.
Start Here: How to Choose What to Grow
Before you barrel through the list and end up with a hundred things you want to plant in your garden, set some parameters for yourself. Growing everything is a recipe for burnout (ask me how I know) and just growing a few things impeccably well is much more sustainable and satisfying.
So ask yourself:
- What do I (and my family) actually like to eat?
- How much space do I really have? (Smaller spaces will require smaller varieties of fruits and vegetables.)
- Do I want quick results or am I willing to wait for a harvest?
- Am I eating everything fresh, or do I want to preserve some for later?
- How do I plan on using what I grow?
Keep your answers in mind as you make your garden plan.
If you want to narrow things down further, try this formula:
- 1 cut-and-come-again green or herb
- 2 warm-season high-producers (like tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc.)
- 1 flower (for pollinators and beauty)
- 1 curiosity crop (something interesting that you don’t mind experimenting with)
Once you’ve picked a few parameters to guide your decisions, the lists below will become much easier and more exciting to explore. You’ll have a clear direction to create your starting set.
And don’t worry, you’re not locked in to one list season after season. The beauty of an annual vegetable garden is that you can change it up each year and fine tune your plant choices as you gain experience.
Growing a garden for kids? I’ve put together a list of my kids’ favorite garden vegetables here if you want to know what we grow.
Jump Around If You Must
40 Easy Garden Vegetables and Fruits for Beginners
Annual vegetables can be grown in two basic seasons: warm or cool.
The warm season spans 65°-90°F (18°-32°C).
The cool season begins at 50°F (10°C) and above, but some seeds can germinate in soil temperatures as low as 40°F (4°C).
Hop over to this post if you need help figuring out your frost dates and warm or cool season.
Gardening Tip: Be sure to check the plant tag or back of the seed packet for the spacing requirements of your plants before you buy them. This way your plants won’t be too crowded and will have plenty of room to grow to their full potential.
20 Warm-Season Vegetables and Fruits
These vegetables love the warmth of summer and need full sun (6+ hours) to thrive. Plant any of these vegetables and fruits after the danger of frost has passed and the garden soil is nice and warm.
How do you know if the soil is warm? Well, you could use a thermometer. Or you could imagine planting yourself in it. If you would feel cozy being buried in the soil, then it’s warm enough.
- Tomatoes (cherry, paste, etc.—learn about the different types of tomatoes in this post)
- Cucumbers
- Sweet Peppers (including bells)
- Hot Peppers (Jalapeños, Habañeros, Cayenne, etc.)
- Eggplant
- Zucchini (a.ka. summer squash)
- Gourds (Luffa, Tromboncino, Opo, etc.)
- String/Green Beans (Bush and Pole types)
- Dried Beans (Pinto, Black, Kidney, Lima, etc.)
- Sweet Corn (must plant in blocks, not rows)
- Watermelon
- Cantaloupe (or Muskmelons)
- Honeydew melons
- Okra
- Sweet Potatoes (easy to grow your own slips from one tuber)
- Pumpkins
- Tomatillos
- Winter Squash (Butternut, Delicata, Acorn, Hubbard, etc.)
- Carrots (prefers to germinate in cool weather, but will grow in warm)
- Fennel (bulb and fronds are edible)
20 Cool-Season Vegetables
Cool-season vegetables love the cold, crisp temperatures of spring and fall. These plants can tolerate light frosts, and some even become sweeter after a frost. Vegetables like these grow quickly when it’s cool and tend to become bitter or go to seed when the weather warms up.
If your area tends to go from winter straight into summer, fall may be a better time to grow cool-season vegetables. Read more on growing vegetables in the fall in this post.
- Lettuce (loose-leaf or heading)
- Spinach
- Kale
- Carrots
- Broccoli
- Bok Choy
- Cabbage (Napa, Savoy, Green, Red)
- Radishes
- Peas (Sweet Peas, Snap Peas, Snow Peas)
- Onions (see why seeds yield the best onions)
- Garlic (typically planted in the fall to grow full bulbs; can be planted in very early spring but may not bulb up)
- Chard (Swiss Chard, Perpetual Spinach)
- Arugula
- Brussels Sprouts
- Turnips
- Beets
- Leeks
- Mustard Greens
- Scallions (Green Onions)
- Collard Greens
Gardening Tip: Plant cool-season vegetables as soon as the soil has thawed in the spring. Pull them out once they go to seed or begin tasting bitter. Add a bit of granular fertilizer to the soil and plant your warm-season vegetables immediately after.
18 Herbs to Grow in Your Garden
Herbs are easy to grow and thrive in almost any climate, but that’s only helpful if you actually remember to use them!
One of my favorite ways to use herbs is for tea. I’ll note my favorites below. You can brew herbal tea fresh or dried like I’ll show you in this post.
My second favorite way to use herbs is by making herb-infused salt. It’s easy, it sounds gourmet, and it’s very giftable.
Depending on your growing zone, some of the herbs on this list will be perennial for you, meaning they will come back year after year without needing to be replanted. This is also a great way to save money on both gardening and cooking!
Gardening Tip: If you don’t have a lot of space to garden, try growing herbs in pots or tubs. Different herbs like basil, chives, and thyme can be planted in the same pot if the pot is large enough. Check the tags on the plant or the back of the seed packet for growing requirements.
- Basil (pinch off flowers for the best basil flavor and bushiest growth)
- Mint (Peppermint, Spearmint, Apple, Chocolate… all are great for tea)
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Thyme (Lemon Thyme is great for tea)
- Oregano
- Cilantro (leaves = cilantro; seeds = coriander)
- Chives
- Sage
- Dill (Dill seeds are also edible)
- Lavender (Spanish, French, English; may be perennial in certain zones; great for tea)
- Tarragon
- Marjoram
- Savory (Summer and Winter varieties)
- Lemon Balm (great for tea)
- Shiso
- Stevia (great for tea)
- Holy Basil or Tulsi (great for tea)
Gardening Tip: Plant mint and lemon balm in their own containers. These tend to spread aggressively and take over small garden patches.
17 Edible Flowers for Your Vegetable Garden
I love growing flowers in my vegetable garden, and I find that they are absolutely necessary to get the best production out of my plants! Flowers actually make vegetable gardens more productive; find out how in this post.
This list includes edible flowers you can grow alongside your vegetables in the garden. Try cutting a few for the vase, too.
I’ve noted which flowers grow best in cool season conditions, and the rest will do fine in warm weather.
(Also don’t forget, squash and zucchini flowers are edible, too!)
Gardening Tip: Pick a few edible flowers to garnish salads and drinks. Freeze flowers or petals in ice cube trays with water to make beautiful floral ice cubes.
- Nasturtiums
- Marigolds
- Pansies (grows best in cool season)
- Violas (grows best in cool season)
- Calendula (Pot Marigold)
- Borage
- Lavender
- Chive Blossoms
- Rose (perennial; great for tea)
- Zinnias (not the best tasting, but one of the prettiest!)
- Bee Balm (or Monarda)
- Chamomile (grows best in cool season; great for tea)
- Sunflower
- Dianthus (Carnation; grows best in cool season)
- Hibiscus (also called Roselle; great for tea)
- Anise Hyssop
- Bachelor’s Buttons (or Cornflower)
Enjoy Growing Your Vegetable Garden
If you only get one thing out of this post, let it be this: grow what you love.
Because when you’re excited about what you’re growing, you’ll get a lot farther in gardening.
You don’t need to grow all 75 things. Pick a few that interest you, plant them, and see what sticks.
And don’t forget to stop and smell the tomatoes.
If you want a completely done-for-you garden layout and planting plan, pick one of my free garden layouts for small gardens in this post.
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