Hyacinth · Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
When to sow hyacinths in Lagos
Main outdoor window
not outdoors here
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
no spring frost
In Lagos, on your chosen risk.
First autumn frost
no autumn frost
The far end of the outdoor season.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Lagos
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.
Hyacinths through the year
Against the frost risk in Lagos
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 Lagos instead of forwards from its start.
Lagos sits in zone 13b, 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.
Also in Lagos
Other flowers to time
Growing hyacinths in Lagos
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.