Tickseed · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
When to sow tickseeds in Philadelphia
Main outdoor window
21 Apr - 19 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
14 April
In Philadelphia, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jun - 30 Sep
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 Philadelphia
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.
Start indoors
9 Jun - 7 Jul
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
21 Apr - 19 May
One week after your last frost.
Plant out
28 Apr - 26 May
Two weeks after your last frost.
In flower
1 Jun - 30 Sep
Tickseeds through the year
Against the frost risk in Philadelphia
Why these dates
Plant out or sow direct after the last frost. Shear the plant back by half when flowering slows in midsummer for a second flush that lasts to autumn. Deadheading is what keeps it going, so a neglected plant simply stops.
Hardy to -25C, though the large-flowered forms often behave as biennials in a wet winter and are worth resowing. Needs good drainage.
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. Tickseeds are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Philadelphia.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Philadelphia is zone 7a, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 1, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Philadelphia
Other flowers to time
Growing tickseeds in Philadelphia
When should I plant tickseeds in Philadelphia?
Aim for 21 Apr - 19 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 30 Apr - 28 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will tickseeds be ready to harvest in Philadelphia?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jun - 30 Sep, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will tickseeds tolerate?
Hardy to -25C, though the large-flowered forms often behave as biennials in a wet winter and are worth resowing. Needs good drainage.