Snowdrop · Tai’an, Shandong, China
When to sow snowdrops in Tai’an
Main outdoor window
29 Sep - 13 Oct
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
31 March
In Tai’an, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jan - 31 Mar
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 Tai’an
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
29 Sep - 13 Oct
Four to six weeks before your first frost, so roots form before the ground cools.
In flower
1 Jan - 31 Mar
Snowdrops through the year
Against the frost risk in Tai’an
Why these dates
Plant dry bulbs in early autumn, as soon as they are available and while they still feel firm - they dry out faster than any other common bulb, and a shrivelled one will not grow. Far better, move them in the green: lift and split clumps just after flowering, while the leaves are still up.
Hardy to -30C and flowers straight through frost and snow. Wants a cold winter and cool summer shade; it is the least happy of the common bulbs in a hot climate and rarely persists past zone 7.
Snowdrops 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 Tai’an instead of forwards from its start.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Tai’an is zone 7b, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
The median frost-free season here is 224 days, against 110 to 160 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Tai’an
Other flowers to time
Growing snowdrops in Tai’an
When should I plant snowdrops in Tai’an?
Aim for 29 Sep - 13 Oct in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 19 Sep - 3 Oct - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will snowdrops be ready to harvest in Tai’an?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jan - 31 Mar, based on 110 to 160 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will snowdrops tolerate?
Hardy to -30C and flowers straight through frost and snow. Wants a cold winter and cool summer shade; it is the least happy of the common bulbs in a hot climate and rarely persists past zone 7.