Siberian squill · Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico
When to sow siberian squills in Santiago de Querétaro
Main outdoor window
24 Oct - 7 Nov
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
28 January
In Santiago de Querétaro, 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 Santiago de Querétaro
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
24 Oct - 7 Nov
Four to six weeks before your first frost, so roots form before the ground cools.
In flower
1 Mar - 30 Apr
Siberian squills through the year
Against the frost risk in Santiago de Querétaro
Why these dates
Plant in early autumn, 7cm deep, in generous drifts - a handful of squills is invisible. Self-seeds freely once settled, so put them where spread is an advantage rather than a problem.
Hardy to about -35C, further north than almost any other spring bulb. Requires a genuinely cold winter and does not persist below zone 8.
Siberian squills 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 Santiago de Querétaro instead of forwards from its start.
Santiago de Querétaro sits in zone 10a, 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 311 days, against 120 to 160 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Nearby
Siberian squills in places close by
Also in Santiago de Querétaro
Other flowers to time
Growing siberian squills in Santiago de Querétaro
When should I plant siberian squills in Santiago de Querétaro?
Aim for 24 Oct - 7 Nov in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 23 Sep - 7 Oct - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will siberian squills be ready to harvest in Santiago de Querétaro?
Expect to start picking around 1 Mar - 30 Apr, based on 120 to 160 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will siberian squills tolerate?
Hardy to about -35C, further north than almost any other spring bulb. Requires a genuinely cold winter and does not persist below zone 8.