When to plant in Deep Cove, BC

Planting dates worked out from Deep Cove's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

Apr 10

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 18

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 19

1 year in 10 by Nov 1

Frost-free days

238

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Saanichton Cda · 7.7 km away · station 61 m, town 64 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Deep Cove plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 16 – Mar 30	May 11 – May 25	Jul 5
Sweet pepper	Mar 2 – Mar 16	May 11 – May 25	Jul 10
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 30 – Feb 6	Mar 6 – Mar 20	Apr 15
Peas	—	Mar 6 – Apr 3	Apr 30
Bush beans	—	May 2 – May 23	Jun 21
Carrot	—	Apr 2 – May 14	Jun 1
Beet	—	Apr 2 – May 14	May 22
Potato	—	Apr 2 – Apr 23	Jun 11
Kale	Jan 30 – Feb 13	Mar 13 – Mar 27	Apr 25
Broccoli	Jan 23 – Feb 6	Mar 6 – Mar 27	May 5
Cucumber	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jun 30
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jun 25
Winter squash	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jul 30
Sweet corn	—	May 2 – May 23	Jul 1
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 6 – Mar 27	Jun 4
Garlic	—	Oct 5 – Nov 2 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 6 – Apr 3	Apr 13
Basil	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 11 – May 25	Jul 7

Plan all 65 crops for Deep Cove

Deep Cove's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1914	Mar 31
1915	Feb 26
1916	May 10
1917	Mar 31
1918	Apr 17
1919	Apr 14
1920	Apr 14
1921	Apr 20
1922	May 9
1923	Mar 21
1924	Apr 23
1925	Mar 23
1926	Jan 14
1927	Apr 20
1928	Apr 1
1929	Apr 9
1930	Apr 2
1931	Apr 18
1932	Mar 6
1933	Apr 10
1934	Mar 4
1935	Apr 3
1936	Apr 4
1937	Mar 18
1938	Mar 30
1939	Apr 4
1940	Jan 13
1941	Feb 24
1942	Mar 26
1943	Mar 20
1944	Apr 14
1945	Mar 24
1946	Mar 28
1947	Apr 3
1948	Apr 26
1949	Apr 30
1950	Apr 23
1951	Mar 27
1952	Apr 29
1953	Mar 29
1954	Apr 10
1955	Apr 15
1956	Apr 6
1957	Mar 13
1958	Mar 6
1959	Mar 22
1960	Mar 14
1961	Apr 20
1962	Mar 28
1963	Apr 2
1964	Apr 30
1965	May 5
1966	Mar 22
1967	Apr 13
1968	Apr 17
1969	Mar 11
1970	Apr 11
1971	Apr 21
1972	Apr 29
1973	Apr 28
1974	Apr 12
1975	Apr 20
1976	May 30
1977	May 5
1978	Mar 1
1979	Mar 28
1980	Mar 14
1981	Apr 13
1982	Apr 19
1983	Feb 6
1984	Feb 25
1985	Apr 21
1986	Apr 30
1987	Mar 22
1988	Mar 27
1989	Mar 5
1990	Mar 13
1991	Mar 27
1992	Apr 7
1993	Mar 26
1994	Mar 23
1995	Mar 24
1996	Mar 2
1997	Apr 6
1998	Mar 7
1999	Mar 16
2000	Apr 24
2001	Mar 21
2002	Mar 21
2003	Mar 24
2004	Jan 26
2005	Feb 22
2006	Mar 20
2007	Apr 2
2008	Apr 22
2009	Apr 16
2010	Mar 9
2011	Mar 7
2012	Apr 6
2013	Mar 22
2014	Mar 1
2015	Mar 3
2016	Jan 10
2017	Mar 9
2018	Mar 24
2022	Mar 10

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1914	242
1915	256
1916	185
1917	247
1918	223
1919	193
1920	208
1921	212
1922	186
1923	253
1924	200
1925	225
1926	331
1927	192
1928	243
1929	215
1930	224
1931	211
1932	273
1933	230
1934	271
1935	208
1936	211
1937	240
1938	223
1939	203
1940	299
1941	270
1942	223
1943	264
1944	213
1945	225
1946	217
1947	232
1948	194
1949	219
1950	203
1951	253
1952	207
1953	252
1954	235
1955	209
1956	204
1957	291
1958	245
1959	227
1960	251
1961	197
1962	244
1963	230
1964	210
1965	221
1966	260
1967	225
1968	227
1969	249
1970	197
1971	189
1972	181
1973	188
1974	223
1975	210
1976	180
1977	186
1978	254
1979	225
1980	243
1981	182
1982	204
1983	297
1984	247
1985	203
1986	212
1987	264
1988	242
1989	286
1990	249
1991	209
1992	229
1993	236
1994	226
1995	222
1996	259
1997	246
1998	273
1999	284
2000	211
2001	256
2002	222
2003	221
2004	305
2005	276
2006	224
2007	230
2008	235
2009	211
2010	253
2011	252
2012	217
2014	256
2015	265
2016	326
2017	238
2018	238

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1914	14.2 °C
1915	14.9 °C
1916	13.3 °C
1917	13.2 °C
1918	14.0 °C
1919	13.1 °C
1920	13.0 °C
1921	12.8 °C
1922	13.6 °C
1923	14.4 °C
1924	14.0 °C
1925	14.4 °C
1926	14.6 °C
1927	13.9 °C
1928	14.0 °C
1929	13.8 °C
1930	13.8 °C
1931	14.2 °C
1932	13.4 °C
1933	13.0 °C
1934	14.3 °C
1935	13.9 °C
1936	14.2 °C
1937	13.8 °C
1938	14.3 °C
1939	14.1 °C
1940	15.0 °C
1941	14.3 °C
1942	14.3 °C
1943	13.6 °C
1944	14.0 °C
1945	13.3 °C
1946	13.6 °C
1947	14.0 °C
1948	12.9 °C
1949	13.8 °C
1950	13.3 °C
1951	14.2 °C
1952	13.5 °C
1953	13.3 °C
1954	12.4 °C
1955	12.1 °C
1956	13.6 °C
1957	14.0 °C
1958	15.3 °C
1959	13.4 °C
1960	13.3 °C
1961	14.0 °C
1962	13.2 °C
1963	14.1 °C
1964	12.9 °C
1965	13.4 °C
1966	13.4 °C
1967	14.5 °C
1968	13.6 °C
1969	14.0 °C
1970	13.2 °C
1971	13.4 °C
1972	13.3 °C
1973	13.3 °C
1974	13.5 °C
1975	13.2 °C
1976	12.9 °C
1977	13.7 °C
1978	13.9 °C
1979	13.9 °C
1980	13.4 °C
1981	13.4 °C
1982	13.5 °C
1983	14.0 °C
1984	13.3 °C
1985	14.1 °C
1986	13.6 °C
1987	14.6 °C
1988	13.9 °C
1989	14.4 °C
1990	14.7 °C
1991	13.8 °C
1992	14.6 °C
1993	14.1 °C
1994	14.7 °C
1995	14.7 °C
1996	14.0 °C
1997	14.6 °C
1998	14.7 °C
1999	13.7 °C
2000	14.0 °C
2001	13.8 °C
2002	14.1 °C
2003	14.9 °C
2004	15.2 °C
2005	14.5 °C
2006	14.3 °C
2007	13.8 °C
2008	13.2 °C
2009	14.3 °C
2010	13.4 °C
2011	13.1 °C
2012	13.6 °C
2013	14.4 °C
2015	15.4 °C
2016	15.7 °C
2017	14.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1914, Deep Cove's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Saanichton Cda (NOAA GHCN-Daily, from Environment and Climate Change Canada). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

North Saanich Ardmore Sidney Mill Bay Saanichton Brentwood Bay