Zone 9a planting calendar

What to plant in November: zone 9a

A rule-of-thumb starting point for zone 9a: last spring frost around February 28, first fall frost around December 5. Zones are set by winter lows, not frost dates, so two gardens in the same zone can be weeks apart. Measure your ZIP below for dates from your area's own 30-year record.

These are zone-average dates. Check an area-level frost estimate from thirty years of nearby weather history and this calendar retimes itself.
Typical last frost: February 28
Typical first frost: December 5
Winter lows: 20 to 25 °F
Zone 9a Almanac. What growers here actually recorded: sowing weeks, days to first pick, and yields.

Plan & order

  • Inventory and order seed3 sowings: Nov 8 and Nov 15 and Nov 22

    Sort what you already have, toss anything over 3 years old, and order early while varieties are in stock. Sowing again a few weeks later keeps the harvest coming instead of arriving all at once.

Dormant care

  • Sharpen and oil toolsaround Nov 29

    Clean, sharpen and oil blades while there's time. Dull tools bruise plants and slow you down.

Direct sow for fall

  • Radish2 sowings: Nov 2 and Nov 16

    Succession sowing 2 of 3. Sow every 14 days for a steady cut. Sowing again a few weeks later keeps the harvest coming instead of arriving all at once.

  • Spinacharound Nov 6

    Counts back 40 days from your first frost. Frost-hardy: light freezes sweeten it.

Sow cover crop

Plant to overwinter

  • Onionaround Nov 7

    In zone 7+ onion sets planted before frost overwinter for an early summer bulb.

  • Garlicaround Nov 21

    Cloves go in about two weeks before first frost. They root now, sleep, then bulb next summer.

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