Daffodil · Longling County, Yunnan, China
When to sow daffodils in Longling County
Main outdoor window
11-25 Nov
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
20 January
In Longling County, 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 Longling County
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 bulbs
11-25 Nov
Four to six weeks before your first frost, so roots form before the ground cools.
In flower
1 Mar - 30 Apr
Daffodils through the year
Against the frost risk in Longling County
Why these dates
Plant early - four to eight weeks before the first frost, and earlier than tulips. Daffodils make roots in autumn warmth and want that head start. Plant at twice the bulb's height, and leave the foliage to yellow completely after flowering, because next year's flower is built during those six weeks.
Hardy to about -30C, and undamaged by frost on the emerged leaves; the flower buds tolerate a hard frost that flattens everything else. Needs around ten weeks below 9C, slightly less than a tulip, so daffodils persist a zone warmer than tulips do.
Daffodils 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 Longling County instead of forwards from its start.
Longling County sits in zone 10a, which is milder than this crop wants, and a winter that never really arrives is its own problem. 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 337 days, against 140 to 190 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Longling County
Other flowers to time
Growing daffodils in Longling County
When should I plant daffodils in Longling County?
Aim for 11-25 Nov in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 6-20 Nov - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will daffodils be ready to harvest in Longling County?
Expect to start picking around 1 Mar - 30 Apr, based on 140 to 190 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will daffodils tolerate?
Hardy to about -30C, and undamaged by frost on the emerged leaves; the flower buds tolerate a hard frost that flattens everything else. Needs around ten weeks below 9C, slightly less than a tulip, so daffodils persist a zone warmer than tulips do.