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When to plant in Foothill Farms, CA

USDA Zone 9b

Everything below — frost dates, hardiness zone, and what to plant when in Foothill Farms, California — is derived from the closest NOAA station with complete climate normals.

A generous ~338-day season lets Foothill Farms gardeners direct-sow more and still ripen long-maturity crops like melons and winter squash. These dates come from a station roughly 16 km away, the closest with full normals; terrain around Foothill Farms (elevation, water, pavement) can move your real frost dates a few days either way. Zone 9b is warm enough that Foothill Farms can grow subtropical perennials, and the short (or absent) frost period barely limits the annual calendar.

Station · SACRAMENTO 5 ESE · 15.8 km
Last spring frost
January 12
50% chance · 32°F
First fall frost
December 16
50% chance · 32°F
Growing season
338 days
frost-free
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Frost calendar for Foothill FarmsA year-band showing 32°F frost risk from January to December for Foothill Farms: last spring frost around January 12, first fall frost around December 16, about 338 frost-free days between.
Shaded months carry frost risk; the clear span is the average frost-free season.

The average last spring frost in Foothill Farms is now 7 days earlier than in the 1981–2010 normals. See how frost dates are shifting nationwide →

Frost probability

SACRAMENTO 5 ESE · 1991–2020

The date the last spring and first fall frost occur, by threshold and probability. A 90% date is later in spring — and earlier in fall — than a 10% date; the 50% · 32°F row is what most gardeners plan around. These are Foothill Farms’s own odds, recorded at SACRAMENTO 5 ESE.

Frost-probability curves for Foothill FarmsProbability of the last spring frost and first fall frost by date at 32°F. The last spring frost is most likely around January 12 and the first fall frost around December 16, giving about 338 frost-free days.
Last spring frostFirst fall frostbold = 32°F · thin = 28°F / 36°F · dot = 50% date · band = 10–90% window
ThresholdSPRING 10%SPRING 50%SPRING 90%FALL 10%FALL 50%FALL 90%
36°FMar 11Feb 12Jan 9Nov 15Dec 1Dec 29
32°FFeb 8Jan 12Dec 18Nov 28Dec 16Jan 14
28°FJan 22Dec 31Dec 13Dec 5Dec 25Jan 14

Download this table as CSV ↓ — every threshold and probability, plus this city’s planting-window dates.

What to plant now

TODAY · JULY 19

Nothing new to sow or transplant outdoors in the next few weeks — a seasonal lull. Check the full-year calendar below for the next window.

Add the next planting windows to your calendar (.ics) ↓

Full-year planting calendar

Start indoorsTransplantDirect sowFall sow

Each bar is the exact window to take a planting action in Foothill Farms, drawn to the day from the local frost dates. The dashed line is today.

Nearby weather stations

3 within 24 km · complete 32°F normals

When stations disagree by more than a few days, that spread is real microclimate variation — elevation, water, urban heat. Judge which station best matches your own yard.

SACRAMENTO 5 ESE
Primary
16 km · 12 m elevation
SPRING
Jan 12
FALL
Dec 16
SACRAMENTO METRO AP
21 km · 7 m elevation
SPRING
Feb 22
FALL
Nov 24
SACRAMENTO EXECUTIVE AP
24 km · 5 m elevation
SPRING
Feb 2
FALL
Dec 2

Foothill Farms planting FAQ

When is the last spring frost in Foothill Farms, CA?

Plan for the last spring frost in Foothill Farms around January 12 (the date it has a 50% chance of a 32°F freeze). Anything frost-sensitive should go out after it.

When is the first fall frost in Foothill Farms, CA?

Expect Foothill Farms's first fall frost near December 16 — a 50% chance of 32°F by that date. Bring in or cover tender crops ahead of it.

What hardiness zone is Foothill Farms in?

Foothill Farms is in USDA hardiness zone 9b. In zone 9b, winters are mild — many tender perennials overwinter here.

How long is the growing season in Foothill Farms?

There are roughly 338 frost-free days in Foothill Farms (a long growing season), running from the average last frost around January 12 to the first fall frost near December 16.

When should I plant tomatoes in Foothill Farms?

In Foothill Farms, start tomato seeds indoors around November 17–December 1, then transplant seedlings outdoors around January 19 once the danger of frost has passed.

Planting reminders

Never miss a window in Foothill Farms

An email when it’s time to start seeds, transplant, and sow — timed to Foothill Farms’s frost dates. Double opt-in, one-click unsubscribe, no spam.

Nearby cities

8 within reach

Frost dates recorded at SACRAMENTO 5 ESE, 16 km from the city center · 1991–2020 NOAA climate normals · zone from the USDA/PRISM 2023 map. How we compute this.

Cite this page
BlissGarden. "When to Plant in Foothill Farms, CA — Frost Dates & Zone 9b." Frost normals: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, station USW00023271. Retrieved from https://blissgarden.com/california/foothill-farms.
When to Plant in Foothill Farms, CA — Frost Dates & Zone 9b — BlissGarden