Thyme · Handan, Hebei, China
When to plant thyme in Handan
Main outdoor window
23 Mar - 13 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
23 March
In Handan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
21 Jun - 21 Jul
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 Handan
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.
Start indoors
26 Jan - 16 Feb
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Plant
23 Mar - 13 Apr
Around your last frost.
Harvest
21 Jun - 21 Jul
Thyme through the year
Against the frost risk in Handan
Why these dates
Very slow from seed and best started indoors well ahead of the season, or simply bought as a plant.
Survives -18C. As with oregano, waterlogged winter soil is the real threat.
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. Thyme are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 0 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Handan.
Growing thyme in Handan
When should I plant thyme in Handan?
Aim for 23 Mar - 13 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 8-29 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will thyme be ready to harvest in Handan?
Expect to start picking around 21 Jun - 21 Jul, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will thyme tolerate?
Survives -18C. As with oregano, waterlogged winter soil is the real threat.