When to plant in Shawnigan Lake, BC

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 24

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 7

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 6

1 year in 10 by Oct 15

Frost-free days

213

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Shawnigan Lake · 1.4 km away · station 159 m, town 150 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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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)	Feb 10 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 26
Peas	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	May 11
Bush beans	—	May 3 – May 24	Jun 22
Carrot	—	Apr 9 – May 21	Jun 8
Beet	—	Apr 9 – May 21	May 29
Potato	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jun 18
Kale	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 6
Broccoli	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Apr 7	May 16
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 3 – May 24	Jul 2
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 17 – Apr 7	Jun 15
Garlic	—	Oct 2 – Oct 30 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	Apr 24
Basil	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 11 – May 25	Jul 7

Plan all 65 crops for Shawnigan Lake

Shawnigan Lake'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	Apr 21
1915	Apr 30
1916	May 12
1917	May 18
1918	Jun 2
1919	May 5
1920	May 12
1921	May 4
1922	May 9
1923	Apr 13
1924	May 3
1925	May 3
1926	Apr 23
1927	May 5
1928	May 2
1929	Apr 18
1930	May 8
1931	Apr 20
1932	May 10
1933	Jun 1
1934	Apr 3
1935	May 3
1936	Apr 5
1937	May 6
1938	May 15
1939	May 9
1940	Apr 4
1941	Apr 19
1942	May 2
1943	Apr 26
1944	Apr 25
1945	Apr 28
1946	May 1
1947	Apr 21
1948	May 2
1949	May 5
1950	May 7
1951	May 2
1952	May 7
1953	May 1
1954	May 1
1955	Apr 30
1956	May 3
1957	Apr 24
1958	Apr 28
1959	May 6
1960	Apr 22
1961	Apr 20
1962	May 7
1963	May 4
1964	May 25
1965	May 6
1966	Apr 18
1967	Apr 26
1968	Apr 22
1969	Apr 26
1970	Apr 15
1971	Apr 23
1972	Apr 29
1973	Apr 28
1974	Apr 14
1975	Apr 29
1976	Apr 16
1977	Apr 17
1978	Apr 12
1979	Apr 21
1980	Apr 11
1981	Apr 14
1982	Apr 25
1983	Apr 14
1984	Apr 26
1985	May 11
1986	Apr 30
1987	Apr 22
1988	Apr 9
1989	Mar 28
1990	Mar 27
1991	Apr 12
1992	Apr 8
1993	Mar 31
1994	Mar 26
1995	Apr 16
1996	Apr 3
1997	Apr 6
1998	Apr 9
1999	May 10
2000	Apr 24
2001	Apr 15
2002	Apr 24
2003	Apr 4
2004	Apr 2
2005	Mar 24
2006	Apr 22
2007	Apr 3
2008	Apr 26
2009	Apr 14
2010	Apr 11
2011	Apr 23
2012	Apr 8
2013	Mar 25
2014	Apr 1
2015	Mar 5
2016	Mar 19
2017	Apr 4
2018	Apr 2
2019	Mar 14
2020	Apr 13
2021	Apr 12
2022	Apr 17
2023	Apr 17

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1914	205
1915	188
1916	141
1917	151
1919	156
1920	159
1921	170
1922	172
1923	192
1924	159
1925	181
1926	148
1927	152
1928	171
1929	191
1930	155
1931	203
1932	162
1933	115
1934	173
1935	164
1936	164
1937	190
1938	151
1939	168
1940	204
1941	192
1942	162
1943	174
1944	201
1945	172
1946	161
1947	182
1948	150
1949	154
1950	145
1951	171
1952	177
1953	172
1954	151
1955	183
1956	172
1957	162
1958	147
1959	163
1960	170
1961	161
1962	198
1963	190
1964	154
1965	199
1966	203
1967	189
1968	197
1969	170
1970	193
1971	186
1972	164
1973	186
1974	202
1975	194
1976	184
1977	199
1978	210
1979	200
1980	215
1981	189
1982	177
1983	228
1984	173
1985	149
1986	191
1987	208
1988	201
1989	217
1990	223
1991	196
1992	189
1993	223
1994	223
1995	195
1996	209
1997	219
1998	215
1999	175
2000	199
2001	216
2002	188
2003	209
2004	239
2005	244
2006	190
2007	231
2008	167
2009	179
2010	220
2011	195
2012	214
2013	239
2014	223
2015	255
2016	256
2017	212
2018	229
2019	209
2020	194
2021	201
2022	204

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1913	13.3 °C
1914	14.1 °C
1915	14.7 °C
1916	13.2 °C
1917	13.1 °C
1919	12.8 °C
1920	12.8 °C
1921	12.3 °C
1922	13.5 °C
1923	14.2 °C
1924	13.4 °C
1925	14.0 °C
1926	14.8 °C
1927	13.8 °C
1928	14.5 °C
1929	13.9 °C
1930	14.4 °C
1931	14.2 °C
1932	13.4 °C
1933	12.9 °C
1934	14.6 °C
1935	13.3 °C
1936	14.5 °C
1937	13.5 °C
1938	13.7 °C
1939	13.3 °C
1940	14.8 °C
1941	13.9 °C
1942	14.2 °C
1943	13.1 °C
1944	14.6 °C
1945	14.3 °C
1946	13.8 °C
1947	14.5 °C
1948	13.4 °C
1949	14.0 °C
1950	13.8 °C
1951	14.8 °C
1952	14.1 °C
1953	13.6 °C
1954	12.5 °C
1955	12.8 °C
1956	14.4 °C
1957	13.8 °C
1958	15.5 °C
1959	13.2 °C
1960	13.6 °C
1961	14.4 °C
1962	13.2 °C
1963	14.1 °C
1964	13.0 °C
1965	13.6 °C
1966	13.7 °C
1967	14.8 °C
1968	13.7 °C
1969	14.2 °C
1970	13.3 °C
1971	13.4 °C
1972	13.4 °C
1973	13.5 °C
1974	13.6 °C
1975	13.3 °C
1976	13.1 °C
1977	14.0 °C
1978	14.2 °C
1979	14.3 °C
1980	13.5 °C
1981	13.4 °C
1982	13.8 °C
1983	13.7 °C
1984	13.0 °C
1985	14.0 °C
1986	14.1 °C
1987	14.8 °C
1988	14.1 °C
1989	14.6 °C
1990	15.2 °C
1991	14.3 °C
1992	15.1 °C
1993	14.5 °C
1994	14.9 °C
1995	15.1 °C
1996	14.0 °C
1997	14.6 °C
1998	15.3 °C
1999	13.4 °C
2000	14.1 °C
2001	13.8 °C
2002	14.3 °C
2003	15.0 °C
2004	15.7 °C
2005	14.9 °C
2006	14.9 °C
2007	14.3 °C
2008	13.8 °C
2009	15.0 °C
2010	14.0 °C
2011	13.6 °C
2012	14.3 °C
2013	15.1 °C
2014	15.8 °C
2015	15.9 °C
2016	15.9 °C
2017	15.6 °C
2018	15.6 °C
2019	15.5 °C
2020	15.0 °C
2021	15.9 °C
2022	14.9 °C
2023	15.7 °C

What this means for you: Since 1914, Shawnigan Lake's last spring frost has come about 3 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 6 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Mill Bay Cowichan Bay Ardmore Koksilah Deep Cove Duncan