When to sow bishop's flowers in New York City

Why these dates

Sow direct three weeks before the last frost, or start indoors eight weeks before it in modules - it moves reasonably well when small, unlike most umbellifers. Support a stand with a single row of netting; at 1.2m it goes over in wind. An autumn sowing gives the strongest stems.

Hardy to about -12C as a young plant, which makes it one of the most reliable hardy annuals for autumn sowing in zone 7 and milder. Tolerates heat better than most of this group.

Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Bishop's flowers are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for New York City.

Hardiness is not the obstacle here. New York City is zone 8a, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.

The median frost-free season here is 249 days, against 100 to 130 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.

See every crop timed for New York City →