When to plant in Fort St. James, BC

Planting dates worked out from Fort St. James's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

Jun 3

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 24

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 13

1 year in 10 by Sep 1

Frost-free days

116

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Fort St James · 1.5 km away · station 691 m, town 700 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Fort St. James plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 8 – Apr 22	Jun 3 – Jun 17	Jul 28
Sweet pepper	Mar 25 – Apr 8	Jun 3 – Jun 17	Aug 2
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 7
Peas	—	Apr 28 – May 26	Jun 22
Bush beans	—	May 27 – Jun 17	Jul 16
Carrot	—	May 10 – Jun 21	Jul 9
Beet	—	May 10 – Jun 21	Jun 29
Potato	—	May 10 – May 31	Jul 19
Kale	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 5 – May 19	Jun 17
Broccoli	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 19	Jun 27
Cucumber	May 6 – May 13	Jun 3 – Jun 17	Jul 23
Summer squash and zucchini	May 6 – May 13	Jun 3 – Jun 17	Jul 18
Winter squash	May 6 – May 13	Jun 3 – Jun 17	Aug 22
Sweet corn	—	May 27 – Jun 17	Jul 26
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 28 – May 19	Jul 27
Garlic	—	Aug 30 – Sep 27 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 28 – May 26	Jun 5
Basil	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 3 – Jun 17	Jul 30

Plan all 65 crops for Fort St. James

Fort St. James'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
1895	Jul 3
1896	Jul 11
1897	Jun 15
1898	Jul 7
1899	Jul 14
1900	Jul 10
1901	Jul 9
1902	Jul 13
1903	Jul 3
1904	Jul 14
1905	Jul 13
1906	Jun 30
1907	Jul 7
1908	Jul 12
1909	Jul 4
1910	Jun 28
1911	Jul 12
1912	Jul 6
1913	Jul 8
1914	Jul 5
1915	Jun 12
1916	Jul 14
1917	Jul 9
1918	Jul 12
1919	Jul 1
1920	Jul 3
1921	Jul 11
1922	Jun 30
1923	Jun 15
1924	Jun 23
1925	Jun 21
1926	Jun 30
1927	Jun 2
1928	Jul 14
1929	Jun 30
1930	Jul 8
1931	Jun 29
1932	Jul 7
1933	Jun 23
1934	Jul 13
1935	Jul 5
1936	May 22
1937	May 30
1938	Jun 16
1940	Jul 5
1941	May 26
1942	Jun 21
1943	Jul 11
1944	Jun 18
1945	Jul 3
1946	May 31
1947	Jun 20
1948	May 19
1949	Jun 15
1950	Jun 2
1951	Jun 20
1952	Jul 6
1953	May 12
1954	Jul 9
1955	Jun 19
1956	Jun 21
1957	Jun 30
1958	May 18
1959	Jun 5
1960	Jun 12
1961	Jun 22
1962	Jul 4
1963	Jun 14
1964	Jun 26
1965	Jun 24
1966	Jun 22
1967	Jun 10
1968	Jun 14
1969	May 18
1970	May 24
1971	May 17
1972	May 25
1973	May 25
1974	Jun 25
1975	Jun 8
1976	May 29
1977	May 28
1978	May 31
1979	Jul 1
1980	May 21
1981	May 12
1982	Jun 6
1983	May 15
1984	May 27
1985	Jun 10
1986	Jun 12
1987	Jun 14
1988	Jun 10
1989	Jun 19
1990	May 22
1991	May 24
1992	May 23
1993	May 9
1994	Jun 2
1995	May 22
1996	May 28
1997	May 24
1998	May 10
1999	Jun 6
2000	May 30
2001	Jun 3
2002	May 25
2003	May 29
2004	Jun 3
2005	May 8
2006	May 13
2007	May 24
2008	May 12
2009	May 28
2010	Jun 6

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1895	16
1896	7
1897	39
1898	52
1899	9
1900	7
1901	8
1902	2
1903	12
1904	1
1905	2
1906	20
1907	32
1908	17
1909	12
1910	43
1911	7
1912	22
1913	20
1914	20
1915	74
1916	8
1917	16
1918	11
1919	52
1920	41
1921	22
1922	19
1923	45
1924	41
1925	61
1926	27
1927	86
1928	29
1929	49
1930	15
1931	25
1932	69
1933	35
1934	55
1935	32
1936	106
1937	77
1938	66
1940	64
1941	65
1942	65
1943	12
1944	59
1945	13
1946	97
1947	60
1948	120
1949	63
1950	74
1951	69
1952	38
1953	113
1954	69
1955	54
1956	74
1957	56
1958	107
1960	68
1961	71
1962	60
1963	94
1964	65
1965	67
1966	76
1967	93
1968	95
1969	94
1970	106
1971	107
1972	107
1973	85
1974	95
1975	94
1976	111
1977	95
1978	80
1979	79
1980	91
1981	80
1982	114
1983	116
1984	97
1985	89
1986	69
1987	90
1988	91
1989	89
1990	93
1991	127
1992	90
1993	125
1994	117
1995	116
1996	111
1997	127
1998	116
1999	39
2000	113
2001	93
2002	103
2003	113
2004	101
2005	130
2006	126
2007	117
2008	133
2009	121

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1895	7.8 °C
1896	7.6 °C
1897	9.9 °C
1898	11.5 °C
1899	7.5 °C
1900	6.2 °C
1901	5.9 °C
1902	7.7 °C
1903	8.4 °C
1904	9.1 °C
1905	9.4 °C
1906	9.5 °C
1907	8.8 °C
1908	7.8 °C
1909	8.6 °C
1911	8.6 °C
1912	9.4 °C
1913	9.1 °C
1914	9.5 °C
1915	12.5 °C
1916	10.1 °C
1917	8.7 °C
1918	8.7 °C
1919	9.3 °C
1920	8.0 °C
1921	8.6 °C
1922	9.8 °C
1923	10.8 °C
1924	10.7 °C
1925	10.2 °C
1926	9.2 °C
1927	10.8 °C
1928	10.8 °C
1929	9.8 °C
1930	10.1 °C
1931	10.3 °C
1932	10.9 °C
1933	10.0 °C
1934	10.7 °C
1935	9.5 °C
1936	10.4 °C
1937	10.1 °C
1938	10.7 °C
1939	10.5 °C
1940	11.3 °C
1941	11.2 °C
1942	10.8 °C
1943	8.8 °C
1944	10.0 °C
1945	8.7 °C
1946	10.9 °C
1947	10.2 °C
1948	10.6 °C
1949	10.7 °C
1950	10.4 °C
1951	11.2 °C
1954	8.5 °C
1955	9.3 °C
1956	10.2 °C
1957	10.1 °C
1958	11.4 °C
1959	9.4 °C
1960	9.5 °C
1961	10.9 °C
1962	9.8 °C
1963	10.3 °C
1964	9.3 °C
1965	10.5 °C
1966	10.0 °C
1967	11.1 °C
1968	9.6 °C
1969	10.9 °C
1970	10.6 °C
1971	10.7 °C
1972	9.9 °C
1973	10.1 °C
1974	10.2 °C
1975	9.9 °C
1976	9.9 °C
1977	10.7 °C
1978	11.0 °C
1979	10.9 °C
1980	11.1 °C
1981	11.2 °C
1982	10.8 °C
1983	10.9 °C
1984	10.0 °C
1985	10.8 °C
1986	10.2 °C
1987	11.5 °C
1988	10.7 °C
1989	12.1 °C
1990	12.2 °C
1991	11.7 °C
1992	11.5 °C
1993	11.7 °C
1994	11.9 °C
1995	11.5 °C
1996	10.1 °C
1997	11.6 °C
1998	12.6 °C
1999	10.1 °C
2000	10.5 °C
2001	10.3 °C
2002	10.0 °C
2003	10.9 °C
2004	11.9 °C
2005	11.6 °C
2006	11.8 °C
2007	10.3 °C
2008	10.4 °C
2009	11.2 °C
2010	11.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1895, Fort St. James's last spring frost has come about 4 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 10 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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