USGrowersGuide
ES

Place guide

Planting zones in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

This metro spans USDA zones 9a to 10a, so there is no single zone for San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 81% of its ZIP codes are zone 9b; the rest are not.

USDA zones 9a–10a 3 zones across 62 ZIP codes
ZIP codes 62 62 have a NOAA station within range
Weather stations 11 NOAA 1991–2020 normals, across 2,680 sq mi

Your ZIP code

Get the exact answer for your address

Everything above describes San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA as a whole. Hardiness zones and freeze dates are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact — enter it and this page will tell you your zone, which NOAA station it comes from and how far away that station is.

Works for all 40,502 US ZIP codes. Freeze dates need a NOAA station within 100 km; where there is none, the page says so rather than estimating one.

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA does not have one planting answer

Its own weather stations disagree about 29 of the 32 crops in this table right now, so any single list would be wrong for part of the metro area. That is not a gap in the data — it is what the data says.

Shortest season
189 days
PINNACLES NM, CA US (USC00046926)
Longest season
362 days
SAN JOSE, CA US (USC00047821)

173 days of growing season separate those two stations, and both serve ZIP codes in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. The ZIP lookup above answers for one address instead of averaging a place that has no average.

Why the hardiness zone does not settle this

A USDA zone is a winter-minimum statistic. It was never a growing-season one, and it does not behave like one: within a single zone the growing season runs a median 54 days wider at the 10th–90th percentile, and annual growing degree days vary by 2.02×.

The zones also overlap rather than stack — 30% of zone 6b freezes before the median zone 6a station. The zone tells you what survives your winter; the station tells you what finishes before your autumn.

The whole dataset behind that →

Growing season across San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA A one-year bar. Every one of the 11 NOAA stations serving this metro area counts May 3 to November 2 as growing season, 183 days. At least one counts January 2 to December 25, 357 days. The same figures are written out below this chart. JFMAMJJASONDMay 3November 2

All 11 stations agreeAt least one station

Every one of the 11 NOAA stations serving this metro area counts May 3 – November 2 as growing season (183 days). Widening to any single station gives January 2 – December 25 (357 days).

That is a 174-day difference inside one metro area — which is why this page gives ranges rather than a single planting date. The ZIP lookup above resolves it to one station.

Which zone you are in depends where you are

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA covers 3 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 81% in zone 9b and wrong for the other 19%. Here is the actual split.

Zone ZIP codes Share  
9b 50 81%
10a 10 16%
9a 2 3%

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

Last spring freeze January 2 – May 3
First fall freeze November 2 – December 25

Those are the earliest and latest medians among the 11 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 11 stations serving San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA it runs 189–362 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 76–94 °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. Summer rain over the same months runs 0.1–0.6" across those 10 stations, against the rough inch a week — about 13 inches over the same 92 days — that a vegetable garden is usually reckoned to want. The middle station covers about 1% of it, so a summer garden here is watered rather than rained on. The inches are NOAA's published normals; the inch a week is a rule of thumb, and it takes no account of a 81 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.

When to start seeds in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Every spring job for 63 crop dates, counted from this metro's own last spring freeze. Each is a range across all 11 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 4 – December 15 4 weeks before
Baby Salad Greens Direct sow January 4 – December 15 4 weeks before
Beets Direct sow January 4 – December 15 4 weeks before
Green Onions Direct sow January 4 – December 15 4 weeks before
Mustard Greens Direct sow January 4 – December 15 4 weeks before
Okra Start indoors January 4 – December 15 4 weeks before
Radishes Direct sow January 4 – December 15 4 weeks before
Turnips Direct sow January 4 – December 15 4 weeks before
Dill Direct sow January 5 – December 30 1 week before
Broccoli Start indoors January 8 – December 22 6 weeks before
Cabbage Start indoors January 8 – December 22 6 weeks before
Collards Start indoors January 8 – December 22 6 weeks before
Kale Start indoors January 8 – December 22 6 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce Start indoors January 8 – December 22 6 weeks before
Peas Direct sow January 8 – December 22 6 weeks before
Spinach Direct sow January 8 – December 22 6 weeks before
Sweet Potato Start indoors January 8 – December 22 6 weeks before
Tomatoes Start indoors January 8 – December 22 6 weeks before
Bush Beans Direct sow January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Cucumbers Set out January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Pumpkins Direct sow January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Pumpkins Set out January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Summer Squash Direct sow January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Summer Squash Set out January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Sweet Corn Direct sow January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Tomatoes Set out January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Winter Squash Direct sow January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Winter Squash Set out January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Zucchini Direct sow January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Zucchini Set out January 9 – May 10 1 week after
Cabbage Set out January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Carrots Direct sow January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Collards Direct sow January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Collards Set out January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Cucumbers Start indoors January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Green Onions Set out January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Kale Direct sow January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Kale Set out January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Kohlrabi Direct sow January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Kohlrabi Set out January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce Direct sow January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Pumpkins Start indoors January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Summer Squash Start indoors January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Winter Squash Start indoors January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Zucchini Start indoors January 11 – December 22 3 weeks before
Bok Choy Start indoors January 15 – December 29 5 weeks before
Kohlrabi Start indoors January 15 – December 29 5 weeks before
Swiss Chard Start indoors January 15 – December 29 5 weeks before
Cucumbers Direct sow January 16 – May 17 2 weeks after
Okra Direct sow January 16 – May 17 2 weeks after
Okra Set out January 16 – May 17 2 weeks after
Peppers Set out January 16 – May 17 2 weeks after
Southern Peas Direct sow January 16 – May 17 2 weeks after
Sweet Potato Set out January 16 – May 17 2 weeks after
Bok Choy Direct sow January 18 – December 29 2 weeks before
Bok Choy Set out January 18 – December 29 2 weeks before
Broccoli Set out January 18 – December 29 2 weeks before
Cilantro Direct sow January 18 – December 29 2 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce Set out January 18 – December 29 2 weeks before
Swiss Chard Direct sow January 18 – December 29 2 weeks before
Swiss Chard Set out January 18 – December 29 2 weeks before
Green Onions Start indoors January 24 – December 30 8 weeks before
Peppers Start indoors January 24 – December 30 8 weeks before

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 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Of 74 perennial fruits, nuts, berries, vegetables and herbs, 46 come through the winter in zone 9a and only 25 in zone 10a. That is a different garden at each end of the same metro.

Zone ZIPs Survive Fail for being too warm
9a 2 46 of 74 25
9b 50 40 of 74 32
10a 10 25 of 74 49

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.

At least one station here freezes across the new year, which puts the two ends of a spread on opposite sides of the calendar. Drawing it would produce a bar spanning almost the whole year and meaning nothing, so none is drawn.

The 11 stations behind these numbers

The 11 NOAA stations serving San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA A relative sketch of where the stations sit, about 107 kilometres north to south. Each is named with its NOAA identifier in the station list on this page, which carries the same information as text. GILROY, CA US (USC00043417)HOLLISTER 2, CA US (USC00044025)LOS GATOS, CA US (USC00045123)MOFFETT FEDERAL AIRFIELD, CA US (USW00023244)MT HAMILTON, CA US (USC00045933)PAICINES 4 W, CA US (USC00046610)PALO ALTO, CA US (USC00046646)PINNACLES NM, CA US (USC00046926)SAN JOSE, CA US (USC00047821)SAN JOSE, CA US (USW00023293)SKYLINE RIDGE PRESERVE, CA US (USC00048273) ~107 km north to south

All 11 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 107 km north to south. Every one is named with its identifier in the station list below — this page does not single one out, because no one station speaks for a whole metro area.

A relative sketch, not a map with a projection: longitude is adjusted for latitude so the shape is not stretched, and there is no basemap. For the one station nearest a specific address, with its real distance, use the ZIP lookup above.

Every figure above comes from these, and each is named so you can check it. Which station serves a given ZIP code, and how far away it is, varies across the metro — the table below gives it per ZIP code rather than this page averaging it.

Station NOAA ID Last spring freeze First fall freeze Season
Gilroy, CA USC00043417 February 24 November 27 277 days
Hollister 2, CA USC00044025 February 19 December 1 287 days
Los Gatos, CA USC00045123 February 2 December 6 310 days
Moffett Federal Airfield, CA USW00023244 January 6 December 23 353 days
Mt Hamilton, CA USC00045933 May 3 November 18 197 days
Paicines 4 W, CA USC00046610 April 14 November 2 201 days
Palo Alto, CA USC00046646 February 1 December 7 310 days
Pinnacles Nm, CA USC00046926 April 23 November 3 189 days
San Jose, CA USC00047821 January 2 December 25 362 days
San Jose, CA USW00023293 January 12 December 22 347 days
Skyline Ridge Preserve, CA USC00048273 March 21 December 15 275 days

These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.

Every ZIP code in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Zones are published per ZIP code, not per metro area, so this is the exact answer rather than the metro area's average. The station column is the nearest one to that ZIP code's centroid and how far away it is — the same figure the tools use, shown here so you can see which ZIP codes are well covered and which are reaching.

ZIP code USDA zone Nearest NOAA station Distance
94022 9b Skyline Ridge Preserve, CA 5.9 km
94024 9b Moffett Federal Airfield, CA 7.6 km
94040 9b Moffett Federal Airfield, CA 4.3 km
94041 9b Moffett Federal Airfield, CA 3.1 km
94043 10a Moffett Federal Airfield, CA 2.0 km
94085 10a Moffett Federal Airfield, CA 3.3 km
94086 9b Moffett Federal Airfield, CA 4.4 km
94087 9b Moffett Federal Airfield, CA 6.1 km
94089 10a Moffett Federal Airfield, CA 3.0 km
94301 9b Palo Alto, CA 0.8 km
94303 10a Palo Alto, CA 2.7 km
94304 9b Palo Alto, CA 5.7 km
94305 9b Palo Alto, CA 3.9 km
94306 9b Palo Alto, CA 3.2 km
95002 10a Moffett Federal Airfield, CA 4.9 km
95008 9b Los Gatos, CA 5.3 km
95013 9b Mt Hamilton, CA 16.7 km
95014 9b Skyline Ridge Preserve, CA 9.1 km
95020 9b Gilroy, CA 1.5 km
95023 9b Hollister 2, CA 11.9 km
95030 9b Los Gatos, CA 2.4 km
95032 9b Los Gatos, CA 7.7 km
95035 10a San Jose, CA 10.0 km
95037 9b Gilroy, CA 17.9 km
95043 9a Pinnacles Nm, CA 18.3 km
95045 9b Hollister 2, CA 9.0 km
95046 9b Gilroy, CA 11.2 km
95050 9b San Jose, CA 2.7 km
95051 9b San Jose, CA 5.5 km
95053 9b San Jose, CA 1.7 km
95054 10a San Jose, CA 5.2 km
95070 9b Los Gatos, CA 8.6 km
95075 9a Paicines 4 W, CA 16.5 km
95110 10a San Jose, CA 0.7 km
95111 9b San Jose, CA 10.0 km
95112 9b San Jose, CA 1.8 km
95113 9b San Jose, CA 2.1 km
95116 9b San Jose, CA 4.5 km
95117 9b San Jose, CA 6.4 km
95118 9b Los Gatos, CA 6.5 km
95119 9b Los Gatos, CA 15.1 km
95120 9b Los Gatos, CA 11.5 km
95121 9b San Jose, CA 9.7 km
95122 9b San Jose, CA 6.5 km
95123 9b Los Gatos, CA 11.4 km
95124 9b Los Gatos, CA 4.2 km
95125 9b San Jose, CA 6.1 km
95126 9b San Jose, CA 2.8 km
95127 9b San Jose, CA 10.6 km
95128 9b San Jose, CA 4.8 km
95129 9b San Jose, CA 9.0 km
95130 9b Los Gatos, CA 5.6 km
95131 10a San Jose, CA 3.9 km
95132 9b San Jose, CA 12.7 km
95133 9b San Jose, CA 4.5 km
95134 10a San Jose, CA 8.1 km
95135 9b Mt Hamilton, CA 16.9 km
95136 9b San Jose, CA 9.8 km
95138 9b Mt Hamilton, CA 14.4 km
95139 9b Mt Hamilton, CA 17.0 km
95140 9b Mt Hamilton, CA 0.9 km
95148 9b San Jose, CA 10.9 km

ZIP-code positions are area centroids, so a large rural ZIP code's listed distance is measured from the middle of its area rather than from any particular address in it.

Your own ZIP

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.

Other places to compare

These metros span exactly the same zones — 9a–10a — so the same plants are in and out of range across them. The freeze dates and the spring calendar are their own.

Gardening in California — zones 5b– 11a covers the whole state: how its 1,788 ZIP codes divide between 12 hardiness zones, and the freeze dates across every NOAA station in it.

Other metro areas in CA:

All 388 metro areas, by state

Gear

If you want to act on this

Each link opens an Amazon search rather than a product we picked. We have not tested these and do not rank them — the search is the honest version, and you choose.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. That costs you nothing extra, and it buys no influence over anything on this site: the dates come from NOAA normals and the zones from the USDA, and no product affects either.

Sources

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.

All metro areas