Gardening in Bakersfield-Delano, CA
This metro spans USDA zones 8a to 9b, so there is no single zone for Bakersfield-Delano, CA and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 47% of its ZIP codes are zone 9b; the rest are not.
Which zone you are in depends where you are
Bakersfield-Delano, CA covers 4 hardiness zones. A guide that gives the metro one zone has picked whichever is largest and rounded everyone else into it — which is fine for the 47% in zone 9b and wrong for the other 53%. Here is the actual split.
| Zone | ZIP codes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9b | 22 | 47% | |
| 8b | 15 | 32% | |
| 9a | 9 | 19% | |
| 8a | 1 | 2% |
Zones are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact even though the metro's is not. The hardiness tool will tell you which one you are in.
Your freeze dates
Those are the earliest and latest medians among the 18 stations serving this metro — not an average, and not one station standing in for the rest. Half of years freeze later than a station's own median.
The spread is the point. Even in a metro that is one hardiness zone throughout, its stations disagree about the last spring freeze. Hardiness zone and frost date measure different things — a zone is the average annual coldest night, a freeze date is when the season turns — and a place can be uniform in one and varied in the other. Use the tools below with your own ZIP rather than the ends of this range.
Your growing season
NOAA publishes a growing-season length for each station, and across the 18 stations serving Bakersfield-Delano, CA it runs 155–334 days . That figure is published, not computed from the two freeze dates — subtracting one from the other gives the wrong answer wherever a season crosses New Year. Mean summer high (June–August) runs 84–102 °F , at or above the 90 °F point where cool-season crops bolt and tomato and pepper pollen fails — so midsummer sowings of lettuce and its relatives are worth holding here.
When to start seeds in Bakersfield-Delano, CA
Every spring job for 63 crop dates, counted from this metro's own last spring freeze. Each is a range across all 18 stations — the earliest and latest that job falls anywhere in the metro — because no one station speaks for the whole area.
| Crop | Job | When | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arugula | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 4 weeks before |
| Baby Salad Greens | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 4 weeks before |
| Beets | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 4 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Direct sow | January 3 – April 27 | 2 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Set out | January 3 – April 27 | 2 weeks before |
| Broccoli | Set out | January 3 – April 27 | 2 weeks before |
| Cabbage | Set out | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Carrots | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Cilantro | Direct sow | January 3 – April 27 | 2 weeks before |
| Collards | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Collards | Set out | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Cucumbers | Start indoors | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Green Onions | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 4 weeks before |
| Green Onions | Set out | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Kale | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Kale | Set out | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Set out | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Set out | January 3 – April 27 | 2 weeks before |
| Mustard Greens | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 4 weeks before |
| Okra | Start indoors | January 3 – December 27 | 4 weeks before |
| Pumpkins | Start indoors | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Radishes | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 4 weeks before |
| Summer Squash | Start indoors | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Direct sow | January 3 – April 27 | 2 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Set out | January 3 – April 27 | 2 weeks before |
| Turnips | Direct sow | January 3 – December 27 | 4 weeks before |
| Winter Squash | Start indoors | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Zucchini | Start indoors | January 3 – December 27 | 3 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Start indoors | January 5 – December 27 | 5 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Start indoors | January 5 – December 27 | 5 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Start indoors | January 5 – December 27 | 5 weeks before |
| Broccoli | Start indoors | January 8 – December 29 | 6 weeks before |
| Cabbage | Start indoors | January 8 – December 29 | 6 weeks before |
| Collards | Start indoors | January 8 – December 29 | 6 weeks before |
| Kale | Start indoors | January 8 – December 29 | 6 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Start indoors | January 8 – December 29 | 6 weeks before |
| Peas | Direct sow | January 8 – December 29 | 6 weeks before |
| Spinach | Direct sow | January 8 – December 29 | 6 weeks before |
| Sweet Potato | Start indoors | January 8 – December 29 | 6 weeks before |
| Tomatoes | Start indoors | January 8 – December 29 | 6 weeks before |
| Dill | Direct sow | January 10 – May 4 | 1 week before |
| Green Onions | Start indoors | January 14 – December 26 | 8 weeks before |
| Peppers | Start indoors | January 14 – December 26 | 8 weeks before |
| Bush Beans | Direct sow | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Cucumbers | Set out | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Pumpkins | Direct sow | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Pumpkins | Set out | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Summer Squash | Direct sow | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Summer Squash | Set out | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Sweet Corn | Direct sow | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Tomatoes | Set out | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Winter Squash | Direct sow | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Winter Squash | Set out | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Zucchini | Direct sow | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Zucchini | Set out | January 24 – May 18 | 1 week after |
| Cucumbers | Direct sow | January 31 – May 25 | 2 weeks after |
| Okra | Direct sow | January 31 – May 25 | 2 weeks after |
| Okra | Set out | January 31 – May 25 | 2 weeks after |
| Peppers | Set out | January 31 – May 25 | 2 weeks after |
| Southern Peas | Direct sow | January 31 – May 25 | 2 weeks after |
| Sweet Potato | Set out | January 31 – May 25 | 2 weeks after |
The week offsets are conventional extension guidance and vary by variety; the freeze dates they are counted from are measured. For a single date rather than a range, run when do I start my seeds? with your own ZIP code.
What survives the winter changes across Bakersfield-Delano, CA
Of 74 perennial fruits, nuts, berries, vegetables and herbs, 57 come through the winter in zone 8a and only 40 in zone 9b. That is a different garden at each end of the same metro.
| Zone | ZIPs | Survive | Fail for being too warm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8a | 1 | 57 of 74 | 8 |
| 8b | 15 | 54 of 74 | 11 |
| 9a | 9 | 46 of 74 | 25 |
| 9b | 22 | 40 of 74 | 32 |
The last column is the counterintuitive one, and it is why the totals do not simply rise as the winters get milder. Most temperate fruit needs a documented number of hours below about 45 °F to break dormancy and set a crop, so an apple fails in a winter that is too warm; currants and rhubarb cook in the summer heat that comes with it. See the full list with reasons.
The 18 stations behind these numbers
Every figure above comes from these, and each is named so you can check it. Distances vary by ZIP code, so the tools report yours rather than this page guessing.
| Station | NOAA ID | Last spring freeze | First fall freeze | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield 5 NW, CA | USC00040444 | January 31 | December 8 | 312 days |
| Bakersfield AP, CA | USW00023155 | January 17 | December 15 | 334 days |
| Buttonwillow, CA | USC00041244 | February 9 | November 26 | 289 days |
| China Lake Naf, CA | USW00093104 | March 11 | November 12 | 244 days |
| Delano, CA | USC00042346 | January 31 | December 8 | 309 days |
| Glennville, CA | USC00043463 | May 11 | October 17 | 155 days |
| Kern River Ph 3, CA | USC00044523 | April 7 | November 11 | 217 days |
| Kettleman City, CA | USC00044534 | February 19 | November 29 | 281 days |
| Lancaster Wm J Fox FLD, CA | USW00003159 | April 3 | November 1 | 211 days |
| Loraine 5 Nne, CA | USC00045100 | April 22 | November 13 | 201 days |
| Mojave, CA | USC00045756 | March 15 | November 17 | 241 days |
| Randsburg, CA | USC00047253 | March 19 | November 25 | 251 days |
| S Lake Fs, CA | USC00048407 | April 5 | November 3 | 212 days |
| Sandberg, CA | USW00023187 | April 15 | November 26 | 224 days |
| Shafter 6E, CA | USC00048122 | February 20 | November 23 | 276 days |
| Taft, CA | USC00048752 | January 24 | December 17 | 330 days |
| Tehachapi 4 SE, CA | USC00048829 | April 28 | October 26 | 183 days |
| Wasco, CA | USC00049452 | January 31 | December 5 | 315 days |
These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.
Work out your own dates
Each of these takes a ZIP code and answers for that ZIP alone, citing the station it used and how far away it is. There is a ZIP box in the header of every page.
- What survives my winter?
Runs on the hardiness zone, so it answers for all of Bakersfield-Delano, CA at once — zone across 74 perennial fruits, berries, vegetables and herbs.
- When do I start my seeds?
Dates every spring job from your own last freeze — sow indoors, set out, direct sow.
- When do I sow the next round?
How often each crop is worth re-sowing, and when the next sowing is due.
- What can I still plant?
Counts the growing days left before your first fall freeze, crop by crop.
Where these numbers come from
The hardiness zone is the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, published per ZIP code by PRISM at Oregon State. The freeze dates are NOAA's 1991–2020 Climate Normals, read from every station whose normals cover a ZIP code in this metro. Nothing here is estimated, and no station stands in for another.
This page names no single station on purpose. Picking one to represent a metro sounds reasonable and is not: the station serving the most ZIP codes is an artifact of where ZIP centroids happen to fall, and it selects a lock on the Monongahela for Pittsburgh and a far southern suburb for Chicago. A range across every station is true; a single cited date for a whole metro is not.