Honesty · Bitlis, Bitlis, Turkey
When to plant honesty in Bitlis
Main outdoor window
5 Jun - 3 Jul
A climate estimate. Check your soil, forecast and cultivar.
Timed from last spring frost
24 April
In Bitlis, on your chosen risk.
First flowers
1 Apr - 31 May
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 Bitlis
Download these planting dates (.ics)
Import into Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook. Dates use the selected risk level and are planning estimates, not frost alerts.
Each window is a planning range. Check the forecast, soil and cultivar before planting; a later date is not automatically safer in hot or wet conditions.
Sow direct
5 Jun - 3 Jul
Six weeks after your last frost.
Move to final position
11 Sep - 9 Oct
20 weeks after your last frost.
In flower
1 Apr - 31 May
Honesty through the year
Against the frost risk in Bitlis
Seasonal context
Rainfall and the growing season in Bitlis
April has the highest average precipitation (88 mm); August has the lowest (3 mm). Compare this pattern with the planting windows and your water supply.
During wetter months, check that beds and containers drain after heavy rain. During drier months, plan how you will keep seeds and new transplants watered. Monthly averages can hide long dry spells and intense storms; they do not show soil moisture, humidity or this week's weather.
Source: NASA POWER, corrected MERRA-2 precipitation, 2001–2020. Values are approximate monthly totals, including the water equivalent of snow, from the nearest 0.5° × 0.625° grid cell. This reference period differs from the temperature record. Rainfall provides context and does not change the calculated planting dates. Method and limitations.
Monthly growing conditions in Bitlis
Compare the planting window with the local temperature pattern. These are historical monthly averages, not this year's forecast or measured soil temperatures. Average frost days do not tell you whether a particular night will freeze.
| Month | Average low | Average high | Frost days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | -9.1°C (15.6°F)15.6°F (-9.1°C) | -0.5°C (31.2°F)31.2°F (-0.5°C) | 30.7 |
| February | -7.5°C (18.5°F)18.5°F (-7.5°C) | 1.1°C (33.9°F)33.9°F (1.1°C) | 27.3 |
| March | -2.3°C (27.8°F)27.8°F (-2.3°C) | 6.1°C (43°F)43°F (6.1°C) | 22.7 |
| April | 2.4°C (36.3°F)36.3°F (2.4°C) | 12.4°C (54.4°F)54.4°F (12.4°C) | 6.9 |
| May | 7°C (44.6°F)44.6°F (7°C) | 18.2°C (64.8°F)64.8°F (18.2°C) | 0.2 |
| June | 11.9°C (53.4°F)53.4°F (11.9°C) | 26.2°C (79.2°F)79.2°F (26.2°C) | 0.0 |
| July | 16.1°C (61°F)61°F (16.1°C) | 32.3°C (90.1°F)90.1°F (32.3°C) | 0.0 |
| August | 16.7°C (62.1°F)62.1°F (16.7°C) | 32.3°C (90.2°F)90.2°F (32.3°C) | 0.0 |
| September | 12.1°C (53.7°F)53.7°F (12.1°C) | 26.3°C (79.4°F)79.4°F (26.3°C) | 0.0 |
| October | 6.4°C (43.4°F)43.4°F (6.4°C) | 18.1°C (64.6°F)64.6°F (18.1°C) | 1.7 |
| November | -0.4°C (31.3°F)31.3°F (-0.4°C) | 9.6°C (49.2°F)49.2°F (9.6°C) | 15.6 |
| December | -5.6°C (22°F)22°F (-5.6°C) | 2.8°C (37°F)37°F (2.8°C) | 28.2 |
For honesty, also check drainage, sunlight and cultivar requirements. See the rainfall context above; humidity, irrigation and local pest pressure are not calculated.
Local growing check
Before choosing honesty for Bitlis
- April is the wettest month in the rainfall grid, averaging about 88 mm. Check how your own bed drains and plan watering around actual soil moisture; monthly rain totals are not an irrigation schedule.
The temperature and rainfall tables on this page show the underlying climate estimates. How these suitability checks work · Record what happens in your garden.
Before you plant honesty
Use the calendar to plan ahead, then check the conditions in your own garden.
- Measure the soil at sowing depth. Aim for at least 13°C (55.4°F); the calendar estimates soil warmth from air temperatures and cannot measure your bed.
- Frost tolerance does not make saturated or frozen soil suitable for planting. Wait until the bed can be worked without smearing or compacting it.
- Harden off plants raised indoors: gradually expose them to outdoor light, wind and temperature before their final move into the bed.
- Use the maturity range on your seed packet when choosing a variety. Cold, short days and transplant stress can make harvest later than the calendar estimate.
Keep honesty flowers if you want the silver seed display
Choose moist, drained soil in sun or partial shade and allow room for mature stems. Keep first-season rosettes identifiable so they are not weeded out before flowering. Check local advice before encouraging widespread self-seeding.
Retain selected stems until seed cases mature, then collect them before unwanted seed is scattered. Remove other stems if spread needs controlling. Record both flowering and the stage at which pods are suitable for drying, because the best harvest for an arrangement comes later than the flower display.
What to record this season
How many stems supplied useful pods, and did retained seed create too many new rosettes? Add the cultivar, sowing date and conditions to your growing record so you can compare next season.
Further reading: NC State Extension: Lunaria annua . General crop guidance; local dates on this site are calculated separately. Source checked 19 September 2026 by Safe to Plant; this is not an expert review.
The reference describes plant identity and cultivation. Its regional calendar months and hardiness observations do not validate the calculated dates for another location.
How the dates are calculated and their limits · Keep a growing record · Report a local discrepancy
Why these dates
Choose moist, drained soil in sun or partial shade and allow room for mature stems. Keep first-season rosettes identifiable so they are not weeded out before flowering. Check local advice before encouraging widespread self-seeding.
Check the named variety and local forecast before exposing young growth. The catalog cold-damage figure is a reference, not a guarantee: plant age, acclimatisation, wind and the duration of a freeze affect damage.
This calendar uses frost-relative offsets as a starting point. Honesty are timed with planting out 20 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Bitlis.
Bitlis is zone 6a, within the crop's general range. This is an initial cold-hardiness check; cultivar, exposure, drainage and unusual winters can still change the outcome.
This is a two-season crop, so the dates above describe a sowing in one year and a flowering in the next. The plant spends the winter in the ground as a small rosette, which is why the frost-free season in Bitlis does not limit it the way it would limit a tomato: it is not trying to finish before the cold arrives, it is trying to be well enough rooted to sit through it. Sowing too late is the real risk, because a plant that goes into winter undersized often fails to flower at all the following year.
Also in Bitlis
Other flowers to time
Growing honesty in Bitlis
Can I grow honesty in Bitlis?
The calendar estimates a planting window, not a guarantee of success. April is the wettest month in the rainfall grid, averaging about 88 mm. Check how your own bed drains and plan watering around actual soil moisture; monthly rain totals are not an irrigation schedule.
When should I plant honesty in Bitlis?
Aim for 5 Jun - 3 Jul in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 18 Jun - 16 Jul - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When might honesty flower in Bitlis?
The estimated period is 1 Apr - 31 May, based on 300 to 340 days from the modeled planting date. Cultivar, planting material and growing conditions can change this interval; check the plant as well as the calendar.
How much frost will honesty tolerate?
Check the named variety and local forecast before exposing young growth. The catalog cold-damage figure is a reference, not a guarantee: plant age, acclimatisation, wind and the duration of a freeze affect damage.