Hello and happy April! The excitement of spring continues in April with planting cool season crops outside and more seed starting. You may even get to enjoy a salad from the garden this month! Read on for ideas for what to plant on the Front Range of Colorado (Colorado Springs to Fort Collins) this month.

Rough timing is good to keep in mind, but everyone’s situation is different. These are my recommendations based on what has worked for myself in this region throughout the years (though I’ve been known to not follow the “rules”!). Experiment and find what works for you!

The guide is for an approximate last frost date of May 5-15, but of course in Colorado it can vary a lot year to year.

First Half of April:

Indoors: Starting tomatoes, tomatillos, and basil indoors the first week of April is still totally fine if you’re planting out at the end of May (this is when I plant my warm season veggies). You can still start Asian greens (like bok choy), kale, and kohlrabi at the beginning of April indoors as well.

You can also direct sow Asian greens, kale, and kohlrabi during this time if you prefer.

Continue succession plantings of direct sowing peas, radish, and spinach. Also begin succession planting arugula and lettuce. Potatoes, carrots, and beets can be started around the second to third week.

Transplanting: You can begin transplanting cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower mid-April if you started them around a month ago. You can also begin transplanting onion family crops that you started from seed and sets, from mid-April on.

Direct sowing: there is still time to get plantings in of cool season veggies like Asian greens, kale, kohlrabi, spinach, arugula, lettuce, chard, radish, beets, carrots, peas, and potatoes.

Starting Indoors: Towards the end of the month, you can start cucurbits - cucumbers, squash, melons. The reason I don’t start cucurbits until the last couple of days of April or the beginning of May is that they grow so fast and you don’t want their roots to become root bound. Take care not to disturb their roots when transplanting. Small, sturdy plants transplant well in my experience, but keep in mind that in many cases it’s easier and may be more successful to direct sow in May.

Transplanting: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and kale started a month or more ago can be transplanted. You can also begin transplanting onion family crops that you started from seed, and sets, from mid-April on.

For a deeper dive, check out my articles on seed starting:

Seed Starting Equipment

Seed Starting Step-by-Step Tutorial

Seed Starting - After Germination

Meet me over on facebook or instagram to comment on my posts to tell me what you’re starting now, and with any questions.

Happy Planting!