When to plant in Birch Bay, WA

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

Safe to plant out

May 6

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 4

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 4

1 year in 10 by Oct 15

Frost-free days

204

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Blaine · 8.6 km away · station 5 m, town 4 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Birch Bay plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 14 – Mar 28	May 9 – May 23	Jul 3
Sweet pepper	Feb 28 – Mar 14	May 9 – May 23	Jul 8
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 1 – Feb 8	Mar 8 – Mar 22	Apr 17
Peas	—	Mar 8 – Apr 5	May 2
Bush beans	—	Apr 30 – May 21	Jun 19
Carrot	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 30
Beet	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 20
Potato	—	Mar 31 – Apr 21	Jun 9
Kale	Feb 1 – Feb 15	Mar 15 – Mar 29	Apr 27
Broccoli	Jan 25 – Feb 8	Mar 8 – Mar 29	May 7
Cucumber	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jun 28
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jun 23
Winter squash	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jul 28
Sweet corn	—	Apr 30 – May 21	Jun 29
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 8 – Mar 29	Jun 6
Garlic	—	Oct 4 – Nov 1 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 8 – Apr 5	Apr 15
Basil	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 9 – May 23	Jul 5

Plan all 65 crops for Birch Bay

Birch Bay'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
1903	Apr 17
1904	Apr 30
1905	Apr 11
1906	Apr 12
1908	Apr 29
1909	May 22
1910	Apr 17
1911	Apr 29
1912	May 1
1913	May 6
1914	Apr 29
1915	Apr 30
1916	May 11
1918	Apr 4
1919	Apr 15
1920	Apr 14
1921	Apr 14
1922	May 9
1923	Apr 21
1926	Apr 23
1927	Apr 30
1928	Apr 7
1929	May 17
1930	May 8
1931	Apr 20
1932	Apr 21
1933	May 5
1935	Apr 28
1936	Apr 28
1937	May 6
1938	Apr 20
1939	Apr 30
1940	Mar 22
1941	Apr 19
1942	Apr 4
1943	Apr 25
1944	Apr 18
1945	Apr 13
1946	Mar 30
1947	Apr 4
1948	Apr 30
1949	May 4
1950	May 7
1951	May 1
1952	Apr 23
1953	Apr 10
1954	May 1
1955	Apr 30
1956	May 3
1957	Apr 20
1958	Apr 30
1959	Apr 25
1960	Apr 22
1961	Apr 20
1962	May 7
1963	Apr 2
1964	May 15
1965	May 7
1966	May 18
1967	Apr 24
1968	Apr 22
1969	Apr 26
1970	Apr 28
1971	Apr 17
1972	Apr 30
1973	Apr 30
1974	Apr 13
1975	May 20
1976	Apr 26
1977	Apr 20
1978	Apr 12
1979	Apr 21
1980	Apr 11
1981	Apr 18
1982	Apr 25
1983	Apr 15
1984	Apr 27
1985	Apr 30
1986	Apr 30
1987	Apr 20
1988	Apr 9
1989	Apr 9
1990	Apr 6
1991	Apr 12
1992	Apr 11
1993	Mar 30
1994	Mar 26
1995	Apr 16
1996	May 5
1997	Apr 7
1998	Apr 13
1999	May 10
2000	Apr 7
2001	Apr 15
2002	May 7
2006	Mar 19
2007	Mar 2
2008	Apr 21
2010	May 7
2012	Apr 6
2013	Mar 22
2014	Mar 21
2015	Mar 4
2016	Feb 23
2017	Mar 20
2018	Apr 2
2019	Mar 17
2020	Apr 6
2021	Apr 12

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1903	168
1904	141
1905	187
1908	147
1909	144
1910	160
1911	148
1912	178
1913	150
1914	198
1915	158
1918	217
1919	166
1920	187
1921	190
1922	177
1923	184
1926	148
1927	181
1928	153
1929	132
1930	144
1931	170
1932	189
1933	142
1935	176
1936	176
1937	176
1938	176
1940	231
1941	203
1943	176
1944	207
1945	187
1946	188
1947	186
1948	152
1949	155
1950	144
1951	167
1952	173
1953	194
1954	175
1955	184
1956	177
1957	177
1958	179
1959	186
1960	169
1961	161
1962	199
1963	199
1964	163
1966	147
1967	192
1968	176
1969	167
1970	137
1972	147
1974	191
1975	155
1977	165
1978	195
1985	159
1986	164
1987	172
1988	200
1989	202
1990	209
1991	193
1992	186
1993	219
1994	221
1995	188
1996	167
1997	194
1998	198
1999	158
2000	216
2001	203
2002	157
2006	225
2007	263
2008	236
2010	195
2012	215
2013	225
2015	258
2016	284
2019	206
2020	201
2021	218

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1903	12.8 °C
1904	12.9 °C
1905	13.6 °C
1908	13.1 °C
1909	12.6 °C
1910	12.6 °C
1911	12.5 °C
1912	13.3 °C
1913	13.4 °C
1914	13.4 °C
1915	14.0 °C
1918	14.4 °C
1919	13.8 °C
1920	13.6 °C
1921	13.5 °C
1922	13.9 °C
1923	14.6 °C
1926	13.5 °C
1927	13.4 °C
1928	13.6 °C
1929	12.9 °C
1930	13.4 °C
1931	13.8 °C
1932	13.4 °C
1933	12.8 °C
1934	14.1 °C
1935	13.4 °C
1936	14.2 °C
1937	14.4 °C
1938	14.2 °C
1939	13.3 °C
1940	15.4 °C
1941	14.7 °C
1942	14.9 °C
1943	14.5 °C
1944	14.4 °C
1945	13.5 °C
1946	13.9 °C
1947	14.3 °C
1948	13.8 °C
1949	13.9 °C
1950	13.7 °C
1951	14.2 °C
1952	13.6 °C
1953	13.8 °C
1954	12.9 °C
1955	12.5 °C
1956	13.8 °C
1957	14.2 °C
1958	15.3 °C
1959	13.3 °C
1960	13.6 °C
1961	14.1 °C
1962	13.4 °C
1963	14.1 °C
1964	12.9 °C
1966	13.3 °C
1967	14.3 °C
1968	13.7 °C
1969	14.0 °C
1970	13.2 °C
1972	13.3 °C
1974	13.5 °C
1975	13.2 °C
1977	13.8 °C
1978	14.0 °C
1979	14.5 °C
1980	14.0 °C
1981	14.3 °C
1982	13.9 °C
1985	13.9 °C
1986	13.7 °C
1987	14.1 °C
1988	13.5 °C
1989	14.2 °C
1990	14.6 °C
1991	13.7 °C
1992	14.4 °C
1993	14.2 °C
1994	14.4 °C
1995	14.4 °C
1996	13.7 °C
1997	14.4 °C
1998	14.4 °C
1999	13.2 °C
2000	13.6 °C
2001	13.2 °C
2002	13.5 °C
2006	15.0 °C
2007	14.6 °C
2008	13.9 °C
2010	14.1 °C
2011	13.8 °C
2012	14.7 °C
2013	15.5 °C
2014	16.1 °C
2015	16.2 °C
2016	15.6 °C
2017	15.2 °C
2019	15.3 °C
2020	15.0 °C
2021	15.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1903, Birch Bay's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 5 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Blaine Ferndale Marietta Marietta-Alderwood Lynden Point Roberts