Candytuft · Wŏnsan, Kangwŏn-do, North Korea
When to sow candytufts in Wŏnsan
Main outdoor window
19 Mar - 9 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
9 April
In Wŏnsan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
13 May - 2 Jun
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 Wŏnsan
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
19 Mar - 9 Apr
Three weeks before your last frost.
In flower
13 May - 2 Jun
Candytufts through the year
Against the frost risk in Wŏnsan
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 Wŏnsan.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Wŏnsan is zone 6b, 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 207 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 Wŏnsan
Other flowers to time
Growing candytufts in Wŏnsan
When should I plant candytufts in Wŏnsan?
Aim for 19 Mar - 9 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 26 Mar - 16 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will candytufts be ready to harvest in Wŏnsan?
Expect to start picking around 13 May - 2 Jun, 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.