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What You Can Grow In the DC Area

Produce, herbs, and flowers that do well in Washington's climate.

The White House Garden. Photograph courtesy of Flickr user Ted Eytan.

Vegetables: Cool Season

Beets. Photograph by Flickr user Chiot’s Run.

Beets

Broccoli

Cabbage

Kale

Potatoes

Swiss chard

Vegetables: Warm Season

Tomato photograph by Flickr user Ajith Kumar.

Cucumbers

Peppers

Squash

Tomatoes

Herbs: Cool Season

Cilantro photograph courtesy of Flickr user looseends.

Chives

Cilantro

Dill

Fennel

Parsley

Herbs: Warm Season

Basil photograph courtesy of Flickr user Douglas Bittinger.

Basil

Oregano

Rosemary

Sage

Thyme

Trees: In Sun

Magnolia flower photograph courtesy of Flickr user pontla.

Black gum

Crape myrtle

Deciduous magnolia

Flowering cherry

Japanese snowbell

Kousa dogwood

Linden

London plane

Maple (red and sugar)

Oak

Red buckeye

Trees: In Part Shade

Serviceberry photograph courtesy of Flickr user Warren Reed.

Dogwood

Fringe tree

Japanese maple

Redbud

Serviceberry

Shrubs: In Sun

Spirea photograph courtesy of Flickr user Chris Sorge.

Barberry

Butterfly bush

Gold mop cypress

Juniper

Osmanthus

Otto Luyken laurel

Spirea

Viburnum

Wigelia

Shrubs: In Part Shade

Azalea photograph courtesy of Flickr user Eric Hunt.

Aucuba

Azalea

Boxwood

Camellia

Fothergilla

Hydrangea

Japanese plum yew

Nandina

Rhododendron

Summersweet

Virginia sweetspire

Winterberry

Plants for Full Shade

Impatiens photograph courtesy of Flickr user Madeleine.

Aucuba

Impatiens

Mahonia

Mountain laurel

Sarcacocca

Skimmia

Sources: David Yost, horticulturist at Merrifield Garden Center, and Bill McLaughlin, curator of plants at the United States Botanic Garden.

This article appears in our May 2015 issue of Washingtonian.