Safe to Plant

Hyacinth · Ecatepec de Morelos, México, Mexico

When to sow hyacinths in Ecatepec de Morelos

Main outdoor window

6-20 Oct

The window this page is built around.

Timed from last spring frost

9 February

In Ecatepec de Morelos, 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 Ecatepec de Morelos

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

6-20 Oct

Four to six weeks before your first frost, so roots form before the ground cools.

In flower

1 Mar - 30 Apr

Frost tolerance
Very-hardy
Damaged below
-25°C (-13°F)
Days to flowering
150–200
Hardy to
Zone 4a–8a
Spacing
15 cm
Sowing depth
120 mm (4.7 in)
Sun
Full

Hyacinths through the year

Against the frost risk in Ecatepec de Morelos

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Frost risk Plant Harvest Today

Why these dates

Plant four to six weeks before the first autumn frost, 12cm deep. For flowers indoors at midwinter, pot prepared bulbs in early autumn and give them ten weeks somewhere dark and around 9C before bringing them into warmth - rushing that cold period is the usual reason a forced hyacinth flowers down inside its leaves.

Hardy to about -25C in the ground. Requires roughly thirteen weeks below 9C, so it is one of the first bulbs to fail in a mild winter. The bulbs irritate skin; handle them with gloves.

Hyacinths 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 Ecatepec de Morelos instead of forwards from its start.

Ecatepec de Morelos sits in zone 9b, 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 281 days, against 150 to 200 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.

See every crop timed for Ecatepec de Morelos →

Growing hyacinths in Ecatepec de Morelos

When should I plant hyacinths in Ecatepec de Morelos?

Aim for 6-20 Oct in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 11-25 Sep - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.

When will hyacinths be ready to harvest in Ecatepec de Morelos?

Expect to start picking around 1 Mar - 30 Apr, based on 150 to 200 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.

How much frost will hyacinths tolerate?

Hardy to about -25C in the ground. Requires roughly thirteen weeks below 9C, so it is one of the first bulbs to fail in a mild winter. The bulbs irritate skin; handle them with gloves.