Georgia Grown Seeds & Vegetables

Native Plants

Native plants are plants that grow in Georgia regardless of human activity. If you choose to grow these plants in your yard, you will have little to no maintenance required with them because they were made to survive in the region. You also will not need a lot of organic material to help their growth. Wild azaleas, blueberry bushes, and cardinal flowers are examples of native plants.

Growing vegetables will require the use of compost and other organic materials, however, due to the mostly mild conditions there are many vegetables that can be grown in Georgia. Bell peppers grow all over the state, but do best in the southern part where the temperatures are warmer. Cabbage and other greens are grown all year long in Georgia, but cabbage is best harvested in spring and other in greens, like spinach, kale, and collard greens, are all typically harvested in the fall. Cucumbers and squash are grown in the southern part of the state and are harvested in fall. Sweet corn is grown all over the state and is harvested in summer.

Perennial and annuals are flowers that grow very well in Georgia. These are hearty flowers that will continue to grow year after year. Salvia and sages will grow in most types of soil and will flower every year. They also do well in many types of soil. These are perennials which means they will always re-flower. Annuals will die after one year, but they are normally good at re-flowering the following year as well. Some annual flowers that flourish in Georgia are petunias, zinnias, and milkweed.

Georgia is a state that falls into several different hardiness zones. These zones are determined by how low the temperatures fall in a certain area. The northern right corner of the state gets the coldest temperatures and falls into the zone 6 category, which means freezes will be from minus 5 to 0 degrees F. The temperatures gradually warm up through the state. The middle of Georgia is a zone 7 region and the bottom half of the state is a zone 8 area, which means the the coldest temperatures range from 10 to 20 degrees.

When planting your seeds, or transplanting plants, add compost to the soil. There are different habitats all over the state from mountainous areas so swamps so the acidity of the soil will vary. According to the organization Georgia Organics, plants grow best in soil that ranges from a pH level of 6.0 to 7.5. Add materials like manure or compost to help achieve this pH level in your soil. You will have a much easier time growing healthy plants.