Growing season

The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth.

Consequently, sunlight is less direct and the low angle of the Sun means that soil takes longer to warm during the spring months, so the growing season begins later.

The other factor is altitude, with high elevations having cooler temperatures which shortens the growing season compared with a low-lying area of the same latitude.

In the desert Southwest, the growing season effectively runs in winter, from October to April as the summer months are characterized by extreme heat and arid conditions, making it inhospitable for plants not adapted to this environment.

In colder climate areas where they cannot be directly sowed in the ground, these plants are usually started indoors in a greenhouse and transplanted outside in late spring or early summer.

The growing seasons are shorter because of the lower angle of the Sun and generally range from five months to as little as three in the highlands of Scandinavia and Russia.

Climate on the Atlantic coast is considerably moderated by humid ocean air, which makes winters comparatively mild, and freezing weather or snow are rare.

Despite the short growing season in parts of Scandinavia and northern Russia, the extreme length of daylight during summer (17 hours or more) allows plants to put on significant growth.