When to plant in Shandon, CA

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 28

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 2

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 8

1 year in 10 by Oct 25

Frost-free days

218

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Paso Robles Muni Ap · 23.0 km away · station 250 m, town 317 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Shandon plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 22
Sweet pepper	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 27
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 29 – Feb 5	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 14
Peas	—	Feb 19 – Mar 19	Apr 15
Bush beans	—	Apr 21 – May 12	Jun 10
Carrot	—	Mar 12 – Apr 23	May 11
Beet	—	Mar 5 – Apr 16	Apr 24
Potato	—	Mar 12 – Apr 2	May 21
Kale	Jan 22 – Feb 5	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 17
Broccoli	Jan 22 – Feb 5	Mar 5 – Mar 26	May 4
Cucumber	Mar 31 – Apr 7	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 17
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 31 – Apr 7	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 12
Winter squash	Mar 31 – Apr 7	Apr 28 – May 12	Jul 17
Sweet corn	—	Apr 21 – May 12	Jun 20
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 5 – Mar 26	Jun 3
Garlic	—	Oct 25 – Nov 22 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 19 – Mar 19	Mar 29
Basil	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 24

Plan all 65 crops for Shandon

Shandon'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
1949	Mar 31
1950	Mar 23
1951	Apr 1
1952	Mar 23
1953	Apr 12
1954	Mar 18
1955	Apr 27
1956	Apr 4
1957	Apr 13
1958	Mar 12
1959	Mar 25
1960	Feb 25
1961	Apr 24
1962	Mar 14
1963	Apr 21
1964	May 7
1965	Apr 11
1966	Mar 25
1967	Apr 16
1968	Apr 22
1969	Mar 14
1970	Apr 29
1971	Apr 25
1972	Apr 30
1973	Apr 3
1974	May 19
1975	Apr 29
1976	Apr 2
1977	Apr 21
1978	Jan 24
1979	Apr 20
1980	Feb 12
1981	Apr 11
1982	Apr 7
1983	Jan 20
1984	Apr 28
1985	Mar 30
1986	Apr 13
1987	Apr 19
1988	Apr 8
1989	Mar 4
1990	Mar 14
1991	May 2
1992	Feb 5
1993	May 12
1994	Mar 23
1995	Apr 19
1996	Mar 30
1997	Apr 11
1998	Mar 29
1999	Apr 10
2000	Mar 21
2001	Apr 8
2002	Apr 28
2003	Apr 5
2004	Apr 18
2005	Apr 20
2006	Mar 21
2007	Apr 19
2008	Apr 22
2009	Apr 16
2010	Apr 4
2011	Apr 30
2012	Apr 9
2013	Mar 23
2014	Feb 5
2015	Feb 1
2016	Mar 30
2017	Mar 7
2018	Apr 17
2019	Mar 14
2020	Mar 27
2021	Mar 24
2022	Apr 13
2023	Apr 5
2024	Apr 6

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1949	191
1950	191
1951	229
1952	238
1953	193
1954	220
1955	182
1956	207
1957	205
1958	244
1959	225
1960	266
1961	167
1962	246
1963	210
1964	190
1965	230
1966	207
1967	223
1968	205
1969	248
1970	181
1971	173
1972	182
1973	213
1974	173
1975	176
1976	238
1977	201
1978	278
1979	192
1980	256
1981	183
1982	223
1983	291
1984	182
1985	223
1986	205
1987	209
1988	223
1989	239
1990	232
1991	196
1992	277
1993	178
1994	220
1995	221
1996	203
1997	197
1998	221
1999	225
2000	233
2001	232
2002	186
2003	210
2004	216
2005	213
2006	233
2007	215
2008	171
2009	195
2010	205
2011	191
2012	213
2013	226
2014	296
2015	283
2016	231
2017	219
2018	205
2019	228
2020	225
2021	244
2022	203
2023	206
2024	207

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1949	19.3 °C
1950	18.9 °C
1951	18.4 °C
1952	19.7 °C
1953	19.2 °C
1954	19.9 °C
1955	18.9 °C
1956	19.2 °C
1957	19.8 °C
1958	20.4 °C
1959	20.5 °C
1960	20.5 °C
1961	20.7 °C
1962	19.4 °C
1963	18.8 °C
1964	19.0 °C
1965	18.8 °C
1966	20.8 °C
1967	20.3 °C
1968	20.2 °C
1969	20.0 °C
1970	20.1 °C
1971	19.2 °C
1972	19.0 °C
1973	19.7 °C
1974	19.5 °C
1975	18.5 °C
1976	20.1 °C
1977	19.3 °C
1978	19.4 °C
1979	19.9 °C
1980	18.8 °C
1981	20.2 °C
1982	19.5 °C
1983	20.0 °C
1984	20.9 °C
1985	20.2 °C
1986	19.2 °C
1987	19.8 °C
1988	19.6 °C
1989	20.0 °C
1990	20.4 °C
1991	19.3 °C
1992	20.7 °C
1993	19.7 °C
1994	20.3 °C
1995	19.0 °C
1996	20.9 °C
1997	21.3 °C
1998	19.4 °C
1999	19.1 °C
2000	21.0 °C
2001	20.2 °C
2002	19.8 °C
2003	20.1 °C
2004	20.0 °C
2005	19.6 °C
2006	20.2 °C
2007	20.2 °C
2008	20.3 °C
2009	20.4 °C
2010	19.1 °C
2011	19.6 °C
2012	20.6 °C
2013	21.3 °C
2014	21.4 °C
2015	20.8 °C
2016	20.8 °C
2017	21.4 °C
2018	20.7 °C
2019	20.4 °C
2020	21.0 °C
2021	21.3 °C
2022	21.7 °C
2023	19.6 °C
2024	20.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1949, Shandon's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Paso Robles San Miguel Templeton Atascadero Santa Margarita Avenal