Candytuft · Mianyang, Sichuan, China
When to sow candytufts in Mianyang
Main outdoor window
4-25 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
25 February
In Mianyang, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
31 Mar - 20 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 Mianyang
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.
Sow direct
4-25 Feb
Three weeks before your last frost.
In flower
31 Mar - 20 Apr
Candytufts through the year
Against the frost risk in Mianyang
Why these dates
Sow direct three weeks before the last frost where it is to flower. It has a short season, roughly five weeks, so sow in succession every three weeks for a continuous show. Cut back hard after flowering and a second flush sometimes follows.
Hardy to about -10C, so it can be autumn-sown in zone 7 and milder for late spring flowers. Finishes quickly once the weather turns hot.
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. Candytufts are timed for direct sowing 3 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Mianyang.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Mianyang is zone 9a, 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 286 days, against 55 to 75 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Mianyang
Other flowers to time
Growing candytufts in Mianyang
When should I plant candytufts in Mianyang?
Aim for 4-25 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 21 Feb - 14 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will candytufts be ready to harvest in Mianyang?
Expect to start picking around 31 Mar - 20 Apr, based on 55 to 75 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will candytufts tolerate?
Hardy to about -10C, so it can be autumn-sown in zone 7 and milder for late spring flowers. Finishes quickly once the weather turns hot.