Shirley poppy · Delhi, Delhi, India
When to sow shirley poppies in Delhi
Main outdoor window
9-30 Dec
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
7 January
In Delhi, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
8-28 Feb
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 Delhi
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
9-30 Dec
Four weeks before your last frost.
In flower
8-28 Feb
Shirley poppies through the year
Against the frost risk in Delhi
Why these dates
Sow direct four weeks before the last frost, on the surface with no covering - the seed needs light to germinate and disappears if raked in. Sowing onto snow or frosted ground works well and spaces the seed for you. It cannot be transplanted at any size, so sow where it is to flower.
Hardy to about -12C and germinates in cold soil, so it is a natural for autumn or late-winter sowing. Ends abruptly in the first real heat of summer.
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. Shirley poppies are timed for direct sowing 4 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Delhi.
Delhi sits in zone 10b, 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 Delhi
Other flowers to time
Growing shirley poppies in Delhi
When should I plant shirley poppies in Delhi?
Aim for 9-30 Dec in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 10-31 Dec - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will shirley poppies be ready to harvest in Delhi?
Expect to start picking around 8-28 Feb, based on 60 to 80 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will shirley poppies tolerate?
Hardy to about -12C and germinates in cold soil, so it is a natural for autumn or late-winter sowing. Ends abruptly in the first real heat of summer.