Snowdrop · Zhaoqing, Guangdong, China
When to sow snowdrops in Zhaoqing
Main outdoor window
15-29 Nov
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
29 January
In Zhaoqing, 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 Zhaoqing
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
15-29 Nov
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 Zhaoqing
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 Zhaoqing instead of forwards from its start.
Zhaoqing 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 332 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 Zhaoqing
Other flowers to time
Growing snowdrops in Zhaoqing
When should I plant snowdrops in Zhaoqing?
Aim for 15-29 Nov in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 7-21 Nov - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will snowdrops be ready to harvest in Zhaoqing?
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.