Fast-Growing Plants You Can Start in July

Just because it's July doesn't mean it's too late to start your garden this season. If you were to wait until the spring to plant, you'd miss so many of your favorite edible plants this summer, plus tons of delicious fall crops.

Here are 10 quick-growing herbs, vegetables, and flowers you can plant right now—yes, in the middle of summer—no matter where you live.

10 Fast-Growing Plants for Summer

• arugula
• basil
• beans
• cucumbers
• kale
• nasturtiums
• squash
• Swiss chard
• zinnias
• zucchini

Plant Arugula Now, Harvest in Just 30 Days

Arugula is one of the easiest greens to grow in the garden. You plant it from seed, and it quickly produces delicious leaves that are so much tastier than the arugula you get from the grocery store.

Arugula grows best in cooler weather, but it'll still grow when it's warm and even hot outside. I used to grow arugula over the hot Houston summers, when the temps were regularly above 95°F and most other salad greens were done. The trick is to plant it in a shadier spot, such as under a porch or patio, especially if you're planting it right in the middle of a heatwave.

Plant arugula from seed. Give each seed about 3 to 4 inches of room to grow into a full plant. Water daily for the first 2 weeks.

In just 30 days, you'll be able to start harvesting your first leaves, not even exaggerating. Before the kids go back to school, you'll be eating homegrown arugula.

Beans Are Incredibly Fast Climbing Plants

There's a reason it was "Jack and the Beanstalk," not "Jack and the Cherry Tomato Vines," you know? Beans grow so fast from seed, and they're super easy to tend.

The key is to grow the right beans for your climate this summer. If you're in a warm season (your temps are mostly between 65 to 84°F), then you can grow typical green beans like contender bush beans.

If you're in a hot season (your temps are staying above 85°F), then stick with things like crowder peas (AKA black-eyed peas) and lima beans that can handle the heat better than a typical green bean.

Grow a bush bean variety for the fastest production, no matter your season. You'll get a huge harvest in about 45 to 60 days, and then your plants will be done.

If you want to be able to enjoy your bean plants into the fall and you've got plenty of time before your first frost date, then you can grow a pole bean variety. You'll need to plant pole beans by seed right next to some kind of support structure, like a metal trellis, for their tendrils to climb. They'll produce beans continuously as they grow.

If you're looking for a quick gardening win, sow some bush beans seeds in your garden ASAP.

Basil Is a Quick-Growing Herb

Of all the herbs, basil will give you the quickest harvests in the summer months. Basil is super easy to grow from seed, but you will need to wait about 60 days before you cut your first leaves for homemade pesto. So if your summer days are numbered, start with a plant from the store. Bring it home, put it in a pot or raised bed, and you'll get to take a lot of harvests over the coming weeks.

Basil thrives in warm weather. It'll grow with just 4 hours of sunlight a day or full sun.

To harvest your basil, make sure to cut right above a leaf node (where a pair of leaves emerge from the stem). This encourages your plant to grow not just fast, but twice as big, which means you'll get twice as much basil.

Kale & Swiss Chard Are Quick-Growing Tall Plants

There are two more greens I love to grow over summer: kale and Swiss chard. By July, it's best to buy plant starts from the store rather than starting these by seed. Both kale and Swiss chard are biennials, so you'll get a great return on your investment over the next couple of seasons. These plants are not like lettuce greens, which only grow in cool weather. No, kale and Swiss chard like to stay in the garden as long as possible (for up 2 years). That means they'll last through the heat of the summer.

Pot up your kale and Swiss chard plants and stick 'em in the shade during the hottest months. Harvest leaves from the outside of the plant, and you'll have so many fresh greens for omelets, salads, and sautés.

Cucumbers, Squash, & Zucchini Are Quick-Growing Veggies

Besides beans, these are the fastest-growing fruiting crops to grow in the middle of summer. (Yes, beans and even zucchini are technically fruit.) You'll be harvesting your first little cukes way sooner than you would peppers, tomatoes, or eggplant. (Hold off on those unless you have several months before your first frost.)

You may see cucumber and squash seedlings in the store, but these plants really do best grown from seed. Sow cucumber seeds next to a trellis, and these quick-growing vines will soon cover your arch or obelisk. You'll have your first little fruits in about 55 to 60 days.

Plant squash and zucchini seeds right on the edge of your raised bed. You can train the leaves to drape over the side of your bed so that these large plants don't take up all your interior bed space. I get loads and loads of squash this way.

Zinnias & Nasturtiums Are Fast-Growing Flowers

There are lots of flowers that you can grow starting this time of year. My favorite flowers are zinnias. Zinnias grow from seed really fast, and they can tolerate hotter temperatures, no problem. The blooms are technically edible (but not super tasty) and make beautiful cut flowers.

If you live in a milder climate, you could also try nasturtiums. Nasturtiums grow pretty quickly when direct sown from seed, and you've most likely got plenty of time for them to produce beautiful flowers for you, which are 100 percent edible.

Bonus: nasturtiums help to control pests in your garden. Not only are they beautiful, they're a highly effective trap crop so that all those pesky bugs will leave your vegetable plants alone this summer. Sounds A-okay to me!

Time to Plant Some Fast-Growing Plants

There you have it. It may be the middle of summer—you may think it's way too late, but there are still so many plants you can grow this year before we even head into fall.

These 10 plants will give you harvests either right away, if you buy the plant, or in just 45 to 60 days, and many will continue to give you harvests well into fall.

So go grab some seeds and get them planted in the garden today. Make your summer garden happen this year, not next. You'll be so glad you did when you're taking your first harvests!