When to plant in Davis, CA

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

Safe to plant out

Mar 11

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Feb 14

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 30

1 year in 10 by Nov 11

Frost-free days

282

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Davis 2 Wsw Exp Farm · 3.3 km away · station 18 m, town 16 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Jan 14 – Jan 28	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 5
Sweet pepper	Dec 31 – Jan 14	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 10
Lettuce (leaf)	Dec 13 – Dec 20	Jan 17 – Jan 31	Feb 26
Peas	—	Jan 3 – Jan 31	Feb 27
Bush beans	—	Mar 4 – Mar 25	Apr 23
Carrot	—	Jan 24 – Mar 7	Mar 25
Beet	—	Jan 17 – Feb 28	Mar 8
Potato	—	Jan 24 – Feb 14	Apr 4
Kale	Dec 6 – Dec 20	Jan 17 – Jan 31	Mar 1
Broccoli	Dec 6 – Dec 20	Jan 17 – Feb 7	Mar 18
Cucumber	Feb 11 – Feb 18	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 30
Summer squash and zucchini	Feb 11 – Feb 18	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 25
Winter squash	Feb 11 – Feb 18	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 30
Sweet corn	—	Mar 4 – Mar 25	May 3
Onion (from sets)	—	Jan 17 – Feb 7	Apr 17
Garlic	—	Nov 16 – Dec 14 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Jan 3 – Jan 31	Feb 10
Basil	Jan 28 – Feb 11	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 7

Plan all 65 crops for Davis

Davis'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
1893	Feb 1
1896	Mar 27
1909	Mar 20
1910	Apr 14
1911	May 6
1912	Apr 21
1913	Apr 28
1914	Mar 27
1915	Feb 21
1916	Mar 24
1917	Apr 18
1918	Apr 4
1919	Mar 10
1920	Mar 26
1921	Apr 15
1922	Mar 11
1923	Mar 23
1924	Mar 21
1925	Mar 12
1926	Jan 27
1927	Apr 12
1928	Apr 18
1929	Apr 12
1930	Mar 1
1931	Jan 20
1932	Apr 22
1933	Apr 30
1934	Feb 12
1935	Apr 9
1936	Apr 1
1937	Feb 8
1938	Mar 31
1939	Mar 5
1940	Feb 15
1942	Mar 27
1943	Feb 11
1944	Mar 16
1945	Apr 5
1946	Feb 26
1947	Feb 2
1948	Mar 11
1949	Feb 19
1950	Mar 25
1951	Mar 3
1952	Mar 20
1953	Apr 9
1954	Jan 25
1955	Apr 2
1956	Mar 6
1957	Feb 5
1958	Jan 23
1959	Feb 13
1960	Feb 27
1961	Mar 7
1962	Mar 10
1963	Apr 21
1964	Mar 25
1965	Feb 24
1966	Mar 4
1967	Apr 1
1968	Feb 1
1969	Mar 15
1970	Apr 28
1971	Apr 21
1972	Feb 3
1973	Jan 28
1974	Feb 24
1975	Apr 17
1976	Apr 2
1977	Mar 31
1979	Feb 8
1980	Jan 31
1981	Feb 3
1982	Apr 7
1983	Jan 20
1984	Feb 25
1985	Feb 10
1986	Feb 7
1987	Mar 20
1988	Mar 13
1989	Mar 3
1990	Feb 20
1991	Mar 11
1992	Feb 3
1993	Feb 21
1994	Apr 7
1995	Feb 16
1996	Feb 26
1997	Mar 5
1998	Mar 7
1999	Apr 11
2000	Jan 29
2001	Feb 1
2002	Mar 8
2003	Feb 10
2004	Jan 23
2006	Mar 11
2008	Jan 21
2009	Mar 11
2011	Feb 27
2012	Feb 27
2013	Feb 27
2014	Feb 5
2015	Jan 5
2016	Jan 2
2017	Feb 26
2018	Mar 4
2019	Feb 7
2021	Jan 27
2022	Feb 26
2023	Mar 27
2024	Feb 9
2025	Feb 11
2026	Feb 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1895	326
1896	246
1909	222
1910	203
1911	180
1912	181
1913	201
1914	232
1915	261
1916	213
1917	210
1918	216
1919	229
1920	220
1921	214
1922	238
1923	249
1924	229
1925	238
1926	317
1927	224
1928	215
1929	201
1930	248
1931	295
1932	181
1933	202
1934	293
1935	202
1937	300
1938	220
1939	233
1940	280
1941	320
1942	222
1943	287
1944	249
1945	238
1946	243
1947	290
1948	258
1949	242
1950	280
1951	280
1952	249
1953	247
1954	308
1955	272
1956	253
1957	273
1958	295
1959	274
1960	267
1961	229
1962	264
1963	210
1964	236
1965	291
1966	265
1967	238
1968	298
1969	247
1970	235
1971	209
1972	292
1973	279
1974	277
1975	205
1976	239
1977	232
1978	314
1979	285
1980	286
1981	330
1982	219
1983	334
1984	293
1985	271
1986	291
1987	251
1988	258
1989	271
1990	275
1991	268
1992	280
1993	271
1994	211
1995	283
1996	279
1997	289
1999	244
2000	286
2001	332
2002	297
2003	285
2006	263
2008	321
2009	250
2010	328
2011	281
2012	256
2013	280
2014	328
2015	327
2016	337
2017	282
2018	252
2019	294
2020	312
2021	337
2022	260
2023	244
2024	290
2025	322

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1895	21.3 °C
1896	21.3 °C
1909	19.0 °C
1910	19.2 °C
1911	18.0 °C
1912	19.3 °C
1913	20.5 °C
1914	19.2 °C
1915	20.2 °C
1916	20.2 °C
1917	20.8 °C
1918	20.8 °C
1919	20.6 °C
1920	20.8 °C
1921	20.1 °C
1922	21.1 °C
1923	20.0 °C
1924	20.4 °C
1925	20.0 °C
1926	20.6 °C
1927	19.6 °C
1928	20.3 °C
1929	19.6 °C
1930	19.1 °C
1931	21.5 °C
1932	20.1 °C
1933	20.1 °C
1934	21.2 °C
1935	20.1 °C
1937	20.4 °C
1938	20.3 °C
1939	20.9 °C
1940	20.7 °C
1941	20.2 °C
1942	20.2 °C
1943	20.5 °C
1944	19.9 °C
1945	20.8 °C
1946	19.9 °C
1947	21.1 °C
1948	19.2 °C
1949	20.7 °C
1950	21.1 °C
1951	20.4 °C
1952	20.8 °C
1953	20.0 °C
1954	20.7 °C
1955	20.1 °C
1956	20.5 °C
1957	21.0 °C
1958	21.7 °C
1959	21.7 °C
1960	20.7 °C
1961	20.0 °C
1962	19.5 °C
1963	18.8 °C
1964	18.9 °C
1965	19.4 °C
1966	20.6 °C
1967	20.1 °C
1968	20.7 °C
1969	21.1 °C
1970	20.2 °C
1971	19.9 °C
1972	20.3 °C
1973	20.8 °C
1974	20.5 °C
1975	19.6 °C
1976	20.1 °C
1977	19.7 °C
1978	20.4 °C
1979	20.6 °C
1980	19.2 °C
1981	21.2 °C
1982	19.7 °C
1983	20.1 °C
1984	21.7 °C
1985	20.7 °C
1986	20.0 °C
1987	20.9 °C
1988	21.1 °C
1990	21.5 °C
1991	20.4 °C
1992	21.9 °C
1993	20.9 °C
1994	20.3 °C
1995	20.4 °C
1996	21.2 °C
1997	21.8 °C
1998	20.0 °C
1999	20.5 °C
2000	21.5 °C
2001	21.7 °C
2002	21.3 °C
2003	21.2 °C
2006	21.5 °C
2007	21.3 °C
2008	21.5 °C
2009	21.2 °C
2010	19.8 °C
2011	20.5 °C
2012	20.9 °C
2013	21.9 °C
2014	22.0 °C
2015	21.5 °C
2016	21.7 °C
2017	21.9 °C
2018	21.1 °C
2019	21.7 °C
2020	22.6 °C
2021	23.2 °C
2022	22.6 °C
2023	21.2 °C
2024	23.0 °C
2025	23.8 °C
2026	22.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Davis'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 Davis 2 Wsw Exp Farm (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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