When to plant in Morgan Hill, CA

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

Safe to plant out

Mar 3

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Feb 13

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 1

1 year in 10 by Nov 13

Frost-free days

287

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Gilroy · 16.4 km away · station 59 m, town 108 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 6 – Jan 20	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 27
Sweet pepper	Dec 23 – Jan 6	Mar 3 – Mar 17	May 2
Lettuce (leaf)	Dec 12 – Dec 19	Jan 16 – Jan 30	Feb 25
Peas	—	Jan 2 – Jan 30	Feb 26
Bush beans	—	Feb 24 – Mar 17	Apr 15
Carrot	—	Jan 23 – Mar 6	Mar 24
Beet	—	Jan 16 – Feb 27	Mar 7
Potato	—	Jan 23 – Feb 13	Apr 3
Kale	Dec 5 – Dec 19	Jan 16 – Jan 30	Feb 28
Broccoli	Dec 5 – Dec 19	Jan 16 – Feb 6	Mar 17
Cucumber	Feb 3 – Feb 10	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 22
Summer squash and zucchini	Feb 3 – Feb 10	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 17
Winter squash	Feb 3 – Feb 10	Mar 3 – Mar 17	May 22
Sweet corn	—	Feb 24 – Mar 17	Apr 25
Onion (from sets)	—	Jan 16 – Feb 6	Apr 16
Garlic	—	Nov 17 – Dec 15 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Jan 2 – Jan 30	Feb 9
Basil	Jan 20 – Feb 3	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 29

Plan all 65 crops for Morgan Hill

Morgan Hill'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
1958	Mar 7
1959	May 4
1960	Feb 25
1961	Mar 7
1962	Mar 13
1963	Mar 20
1964	May 9
1965	Mar 5
1966	Mar 4
1967	Mar 6
1968	Jan 29
1969	Mar 16
1970	Feb 21
1971	Mar 7
1972	Mar 28
1973	Jan 28
1974	Mar 9
1975	Mar 29
1976	Apr 17
1977	Mar 31
1978	Jan 24
1979	Feb 6
1980	Feb 12
1982	Feb 24
1983	Jan 20
1984	Feb 23
1985	Mar 3
1991	Feb 2
1992	Jan 24
1993	Jan 31
1994	Feb 14
1995	Feb 15
1996	Feb 26
1997	Mar 5
1998	Jan 5
1999	Feb 11
2001	Feb 9
2002	Feb 5
2003	Feb 9
2004	Feb 8
2005	Jan 16
2007	Mar 29
2008	Feb 5
2011	Mar 3
2012	Mar 3
2020	Mar 2
2021	Jan 26
2022	Feb 26

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1958	253
1959	196
1960	283
1961	229
1962	261
1963	246
1964	189
1965	283
1966	263
1967	234
1968	302
1969	246
1970	291
1971	236
1972	239
1973	279
1974	263
1975	233
1976	223
1977	233
1978	291
1979	286
1980	273
1982	303
1983	318
1984	275
1985	283
1986	328
1991	286
1992	289
1993	288
1994	271
1995	318
1996	279
1997	279
1998	333
1999	306
2002	322
2003	286
2004	285
2005	314
2007	239
2011	275
2012	290
2021	318

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1958	19.6 °C
1959	19.3 °C
1960	19.1 °C
1961	19.1 °C
1962	18.2 °C
1963	18.1 °C
1964	17.7 °C
1965	17.9 °C
1966	19.1 °C
1967	18.5 °C
1968	18.6 °C
1969	18.8 °C
1970	18.3 °C
1971	18.6 °C
1972	19.2 °C
1973	19.4 °C
1974	19.4 °C
1975	18.8 °C
1976	19.4 °C
1977	19.4 °C
1978	19.5 °C
1979	20.3 °C
1980	18.6 °C
1981	20.5 °C
1982	19.0 °C
1983	19.7 °C
1984	20.0 °C
1985	19.1 °C
1988	19.3 °C
1990	20.2 °C
1991	18.7 °C
1992	20.5 °C
1993	19.8 °C
1994	19.4 °C
1995	19.4 °C
1996	21.1 °C
1997	21.3 °C
1999	18.8 °C
2002	19.6 °C
2003	19.6 °C
2004	20.4 °C
2005	19.6 °C
2007	19.1 °C
2011	18.8 °C
2012	19.4 °C
2013	19.9 °C
2014	20.4 °C
2020	20.8 °C
2021	20.1 °C
2022	21.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1958, Morgan Hill's last spring frost has come about 6 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 11 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Gilroy (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

San Martin Gilroy Corralitos Interlaken Day Valley Amesti