Salsify · Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
When to plant salsify in Edmonton
Main outdoor window
29 Apr - 20 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
13 May
In Edmonton, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
27 Aug - 26 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 Edmonton
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.
Sow direct
29 Apr - 20 May
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
27 Aug - 26 Sep
Salsify through the year
Against the frost risk in Edmonton
Why these dates
Sow direct two weeks before the last frost. Do not transplant - the taproot forks if disturbed and becomes unusable.
Very hardy, to -15C, and left in the ground over winter to be lifted as required.
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. Salsify are timed for direct sowing 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Edmonton.
The median frost-free season here is 137 days, against 120 to 150 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Edmonton
Other vegetables to time
Growing salsify in Edmonton
When should I plant salsify in Edmonton?
Aim for 29 Apr - 20 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 8-29 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will salsify be ready to harvest in Edmonton?
Expect to start picking around 27 Aug - 26 Sep, based on 120 to 150 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will salsify tolerate?
Very hardy, to -15C, and left in the ground over winter to be lifted as required.