When to plant in Saratoga, CA

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

Safe to plant out

Mar 21

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Feb 10

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 8

1 year in 10 by Nov 23

Frost-free days

312

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Los Gatos · 6.7 km away · station 111 m, town 125 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	Jan 24 – Feb 7	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 15
Sweet pepper	Jan 10 – Jan 24	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 20
Lettuce (leaf)	Dec 9 – Dec 16	Jan 13 – Jan 27	Feb 22
Peas	—	Dec 30 – Jan 27	Feb 23
Bush beans	—	Mar 14 – Apr 4	May 3
Carrot	—	Jan 20 – Mar 3	Mar 21
Beet	—	Jan 13 – Feb 24	Mar 4
Potato	—	Jan 20 – Feb 10	Mar 31
Kale	Dec 2 – Dec 16	Jan 13 – Jan 27	Feb 25
Broccoli	Dec 2 – Dec 16	Jan 13 – Feb 3	Mar 14
Cucumber	Feb 21 – Feb 28	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 10
Summer squash and zucchini	Feb 21 – Feb 28	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 5
Winter squash	Feb 21 – Feb 28	Mar 21 – Apr 4	Jun 9
Sweet corn	—	Mar 14 – Apr 4	May 13
Onion (from sets)	—	Jan 13 – Feb 3	Apr 13
Garlic	—	Nov 20 – Dec 18 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Dec 30 – Jan 27	Feb 6
Basil	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 17

Plan all 65 crops for Saratoga

Saratoga'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 7
1894	Mar 4
1895	Jan 30
1898	Jan 27
1901	Feb 9
1902	Jan 30
1903	Feb 17
1904	Jan 20
1905	Feb 13
1907	Jan 18
1908	Jan 8
1910	Feb 4
1911	Feb 27
1912	Jan 4
1913	Mar 25
1916	Jan 31
1917	Feb 1
1919	Jan 3
1920	Jan 13
1921	Jan 11
1922	Mar 11
1923	Feb 10
1924	Jan 5
1925	Jan 7
1926	Jan 15
1927	Jan 23
1928	Jan 18
1929	Feb 11
1930	Jan 11
1932	Feb 21
1933	Apr 30
1935	Mar 10
1936	Apr 1
1937	Feb 9
1938	Mar 29
1939	Feb 20
1940	Jan 21
1942	Jan 4
1943	Feb 10
1944	Mar 15
1945	Feb 19
1946	Mar 14
1947	Jan 29
1948	Mar 4
1949	Feb 18
1950	Mar 12
1951	Mar 11
1952	Apr 29
1953	Mar 3
1954	Jan 25
1955	Mar 17
1956	Mar 7
1957	Feb 4
1959	Feb 9
1960	Jan 17
1961	Jan 19
1963	Apr 18
1964	Mar 3
1965	Feb 12
1966	Mar 4
1967	Apr 20
1968	Jan 28
1969	Feb 4
1970	Jan 29
1971	Mar 6
1972	Mar 28
1973	Mar 23
1974	Mar 9
1975	Feb 23
1976	Apr 26
1977	Apr 2
1979	Feb 6
1980	Feb 8
1981	Feb 1
1982	Feb 24
1983	Jan 20
1984	Mar 4
1985	Mar 3
1986	Feb 11
1987	Apr 3
1988	Feb 6
1989	Feb 15
1990	Feb 21
1991	Jan 30
1992	Mar 18
1993	Jan 12
1994	Feb 14
1995	Feb 16
1996	Feb 26
1997	Jan 14
1998	Mar 9
1999	Feb 13
2000	Jan 2
2003	Feb 10
2004	Jan 22
2005	Jan 15
2006	Feb 22
2007	Jan 24
2008	Apr 1
2012	Apr 8
2014	Feb 5

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	323
1894	301
1895	332
1896	331
1898	316
1900	363
1901	306
1903	316
1904	318
1905	312
1906	326
1907	346
1908	343
1909	336
1910	329
1911	256
1912	360
1913	280
1914	347
1915	362
1916	310
1917	332
1918	359
1919	327
1920	351
1921	353
1922	294
1923	323
1924	345
1925	357
1926	333
1927	341
1928	331
1930	343
1931	325
1932	288
1933	229
1934	363
1935	238
1936	249
1937	324
1938	227
1939	313
1940	304
1941	322
1942	355
1943	323
1944	290
1945	292
1946	227
1947	296
1948	266
1949	295
1950	293
1951	270
1952	245
1953	302
1954	308
1955	286
1956	274
1957	321
1958	317
1959	319
1960	321
1961	300
1963	211
1964	256
1965	305
1966	265
1967	229
1968	309
1969	286
1970	317
1971	236
1972	244
1973	261
1974	264
1975	268
1976	215
1977	230
1978	314
1979	287
1980	277
1981	332
1982	288
1983	318
1984	266
1985	254
1986	292
1987	237
1988	322
1989	285
1990	278
1991	313
1992	274
1993	315
1994	272
1995	317
1996	279
1997	331
1998	270
1999	320
2000	313
2003	285
2004	310
2005	324
2006	280
2007	310
2008	256
2010	326
2014	324

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	15.6 °C
1894	16.7 °C
1895	16.7 °C
1896	16.4 °C
1898	16.9 °C
1900	17.8 °C
1901	16.9 °C
1903	17.3 °C
1904	18.1 °C
1905	17.6 °C
1906	17.6 °C
1907	16.9 °C
1908	17.7 °C
1909	17.6 °C
1910	17.3 °C
1911	16.5 °C
1912	17.2 °C
1913	18.4 °C
1914	17.4 °C
1915	17.3 °C
1916	17.5 °C
1917	17.9 °C
1918	17.6 °C
1919	17.3 °C
1920	17.3 °C
1921	17.4 °C
1922	17.8 °C
1923	17.1 °C
1924	18.0 °C
1925	17.3 °C
1926	18.2 °C
1927	17.2 °C
1928	18.0 °C
1929	17.7 °C
1930	17.3 °C
1931	19.2 °C
1932	17.9 °C
1933	16.9 °C
1934	18.9 °C
1935	18.6 °C
1936	19.0 °C
1937	18.4 °C
1938	17.8 °C
1939	18.5 °C
1940	18.2 °C
1941	18.5 °C
1942	17.9 °C
1943	18.4 °C
1944	17.5 °C
1945	18.6 °C
1946	17.7 °C
1947	18.5 °C
1948	17.1 °C
1949	18.1 °C
1950	18.5 °C
1951	17.9 °C
1952	18.3 °C
1953	17.5 °C
1954	19.1 °C
1955	18.3 °C
1956	18.9 °C
1957	19.1 °C
1958	20.2 °C
1959	20.1 °C
1960	19.6 °C
1961	19.7 °C
1963	16.6 °C
1964	17.5 °C
1965	17.4 °C
1966	18.7 °C
1967	18.2 °C
1968	18.4 °C
1969	18.8 °C
1970	18.5 °C
1971	18.3 °C
1972	18.7 °C
1973	18.9 °C
1974	18.3 °C
1975	17.8 °C
1976	18.1 °C
1977	18.0 °C
1978	18.5 °C
1979	19.1 °C
1980	17.9 °C
1981	18.9 °C
1982	18.0 °C
1983	18.6 °C
1984	19.7 °C
1985	19.2 °C
1986	18.1 °C
1987	18.9 °C
1988	18.9 °C
1989	18.5 °C
1990	19.2 °C
1991	18.2 °C
1992	19.6 °C
1993	18.9 °C
1994	18.3 °C
1995	18.4 °C
1996	19.2 °C
1997	19.3 °C
1998	18.3 °C
1999	18.0 °C
2000	18.9 °C
2001	19.1 °C
2002	18.4 °C
2003	18.6 °C
2004	18.9 °C
2005	18.6 °C
2006	19.2 °C
2007	18.6 °C
2008	19.0 °C
2010	17.6 °C
2014	19.9 °C
2016	19.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Saratoga's last spring frost has come about 2 days later per decade, on average. The frost-free season has shrunk by about 4 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

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