Best States For Gardening – Top Places To Live In The US

If you’re planning a move and are an avid grower, perhaps you’re curious about the best states for gardening. Narrow that further and finding the best cities for gardening will provide you with a nirvana landscape.

Of course we can’t all move just to find the best states to live for gardening, but taking into consideration climate, access to supplies, gardening regions, and community resources, the list can be narrowed to 5 of the best places to live for gardening.

Best States for Gardening

What you wish to grow will determine the best states for gardening. For instance, do you want award winning vegetables, prize worthy roses, a certain type of garden, or year round weather perfect for playing outside in your landscape? Here are top rated states for 5 different types of gardening.

1. If you’re an avid grower of your own food, California probably tops the list as the best place to live for vegetable gardening. Half of all U.S. grown produce comes from this warm state. While some areas can experience freezes in winter, the majority of the state is warm and mild. This means you can often plant spring and fall crops during the year. The warm climate also allows the gardener to tend to their plants almost every day of the year. If you want to grow fruit trees like pomes, Washington would be at the top of that list. Idaho has the perfect climate for potatoes.
2. Florida and California produce the most cut flowers for commercial sale in the U.S. Florida isn’t ideal for plants like roses due to the humidity, but many other flowering plants will thrive. California is the leading producer of roses while Washington state, especially the temperate west, comes in third as a producer of commercial blooms.
3. If your goal is a cottage garden or potage (kitchen garden), the best place to live for gardening herbs and old fashioned flowers is the Pacific Northwest. This encompasses the states Oregon, Washington, California, and parts of Idaho. Dotted among other plants, peonies, camellia, clematis, irises, and lilacs will thrive. Certain areas of each state will experience long, freezes in winter, but the milder regions will produce elegant, useful gardens easily.
4. The best place to live for gardening year round is one with a mild winter. Although arid, Arizona will sustain heat loving plants longest. California, Florida, and Washington are mild enough in the winter to get outside and take care of garden tasks. If you don’t mind a little rain, Oregon has a climate that’s temperate most days and allows you to put on a Macintosh and galoshes and splash around in puddles as you delight in your garden.
5. If tropical fruits and flowers are your goal, Florida and Hawaii have climates and soils suited for these exotic plants. Except in winter elevations, Hawaii has the perfect soil for pineapples, mangos, and papayas. In Florida, you can raise hibiscus, bougainvillea, jasmine, and plumbago.

Best Cities for Gardening

Most states have a combination of climates and USDA plant hardiness zones. In the same state there may be areas that are wet and areas that are constantly dry. There might be one part of the state that gets freezing winters, while the other side stays temperate. So honing in on a city within a state will help narrow down the best place for gardening. Taking into consideration the number of frost free days, average hours of sunlight, availability of resources and support, these are the top 5 cities for gardening in the United States.

1. Atlanta, Georgia is a gardener’s paradise. With sunshine almost every day, mild to warm temperatures, and rich soil, this city in the peach state has it all. They even have a wonderful botanical garden with examples of local flora and events and classes.
2. Tampa, Florida is a coastal city that boasts warm summers and mild winters. It has the 4th highest average minimum temperature in the U.S. It boasts the highest number of nurseries per square mile. Gardening every day is a real and exciting prospect in this city.
3. Omaha, Nebraska is in the breadbasket of the states. It has rich soil and the winters are fairly mild with just nighttime freezing. There are many community garden clubs and a wealth of nurseries and garden centers.
4. With a lovely USDA zone rank of 7a, St. Louis, Missouri has perfect weather to garden any day of the year. The Missouri botanical garden hosts many events and workshops to inspire and delight gardeners.
5. San Diego, California features an almost Mediterranean climate which is suited to many types of crops and other plants. It also has an exceptionally long growing season and many crops can be grown in the winter. This lovely city also has a botanical garden featuring desert, tropical, and other garden schemes.