Grecian windflower · Irkutsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia
When to sow grecian windflowers in Irkutsk
Main outdoor window
8-22 Aug
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
20 May
In Irkutsk, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Mar - 30 Apr
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Irkutsk
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Plant the tubers
8-22 Aug
Four to six weeks before your first frost, so roots form before the ground cools.
In flower
1 Mar - 30 Apr
Grecian windflowers through the year
Against the frost risk in Irkutsk
Why these dates
Soak the tubers overnight before planting - they arrive bone dry and dehydrated tubers frequently fail. Plant 5cm deep in early autumn, any way up; the growing point is impossible to identify and the tuber sorts itself out.
Hardy to about -20C. Flowers early enough that a hard frost sometimes catches open blooms, which recover. Goes fully dormant by midsummer and tolerates dry summer shade better than most spring bulbs.
Grecian windflowers are anchored to the first autumn frost rather than the last spring one, so the planting window on this page counts backwards from the end of the season in Irkutsk instead of forwards from its start.
Irkutsk sits in zone 3a, which is colder than this crop is rated for, so it will need winter protection or a container that can be moved under cover. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.
The median frost-free season here is 123 days, against 140 to 180 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Irkutsk
Other flowers to time
Growing grecian windflowers in Irkutsk
When should I plant grecian windflowers in Irkutsk?
Aim for 8-22 Aug in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 29 Jul - 12 Aug - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will grecian windflowers be ready to harvest in Irkutsk?
Expect to start picking around 1 Mar - 30 Apr, based on 140 to 180 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will grecian windflowers tolerate?
Hardy to about -20C. Flowers early enough that a hard frost sometimes catches open blooms, which recover. Goes fully dormant by midsummer and tolerates dry summer shade better than most spring bulbs.