Last and first frost dates in Geneva

When is the last frost in Geneva?

The last frost in Geneva usually comes around 10 April: that is the median of 2016–2025, so in about half of those years the last night at or below 0 °C came later. Hardy crops start before it and frost-tender ones only after it: in the table below arugula can go into open ground from 20 March, while corn waits until 30 April. The first autumn frost follows around 17 November, about 221 days later: harvest or cover frost-tender crops before then.

When to sow and plant

Planting out: a week after the last frost once the soil is warm enough for the crop; frost-hardy crops three weeks before it; an unheated greenhouse three weeks earlier. Seedlings are sown so they are ready on that day. Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

When the soil warms up in Geneva

The day the top 7 cm of soil first averages each temperature over a week, median of 2016–2025 (ERA5 via Open-Meteo). The soil reaches 10 °C 5 days after the last spring frost and 15 °C 48 days after it.

Frost dates near Geneva

Of the nearest cities on our list, the last spring frost ends earliest in Chambéry (5 April) and latest in Sion (8 May).

Seeds, seedlings and markets in Geneva

Within 15 km of Geneva OpenStreetMap lists 16 garden centres, 2 farm-supply shops, 8 markets and 23 farm shops (collected 27 October 2026). The nearest garden centre to the city centre is Les Pots Classes, 1 km away.

• Les Pots Classes — garden centre
  Rue de la Faucille 4, 1201 Genève · Tue–Fri 10:00–19:00, Thu 10:00–20:00 · 1 km
• Le Panier de Nicole — farm supply
  Route des Molards 34, 1281 Russin · Sat 09:00–14:00 · 10 km · lepanierdenicole.ch
• Marché de Plainpalais — market
  Tue, Fri 06:30–14:15; Wed, Sat, Sun 06:30–17:15 "winter"; Wed, Sat, Sun 06:30–18:15 "summer" · 0 km
• Farmer's Market of Bude — farm shop
  Chemin Moïse-Duboule 2, 1209 Genève · Tue–Fri 09:00–18:00; Sat 09:00–16:00 · 3 km · ferme-de-bude.ch
• Botanic — garden centre
  Rue René Cassin 35 · Mon–Sun 09:00–12:00, 14:00–19:00; Aug 15 14:00–19:00 · 6 km · botanic.com
• Bosson — farm supply
  Route de la Bergue 123, 74380 Cranves-Sales · 12 km

• Where to buy seeds and seedlings in Geneva
• Selling your own harvest in Switzerland

Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Weather in Geneva by month

Average weather in Geneva over 2016–2025: the warmest month is August. Months that average 20 °C or more by day: June–September (20.8–25.9 °C). Nights average below 0 °C in January (-1.7 °C), February (-0.7 °C) and December (-0.6 °C). About 1225 mm of rain falls in a year, on 142 days; December is the wettest month (127 mm) and February the driest (78 mm).

Average of the daily highs and lows, rain per month and days with at least 1 mm (ERA5 via Open-Meteo, the same grid cell as the frost dates).

Planted in autumn

From a month before the first autumn frost, so the roots grow before winter, to the late-planting limit on each crop’s page (about two weeks before the ground freezes, by ten years of weather).