Godetia · Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China
When to sow godetias in Shijiazhuang
Main outdoor window
10-31 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
31 March
In Shijiazhuang, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
24 May - 13 Jun
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 Shijiazhuang
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
10-31 Mar
Three weeks before your last frost.
In flower
24 May - 13 Jun
Godetias through the year
Against the frost risk in Shijiazhuang
Why these dates
Sow direct three weeks before the last frost, thinly, on unimproved ground - rich soil gives leaves instead of flowers. Do not thin too hard; it flowers better standing slightly crowded and supports itself that way. Needs cool nights to set buds, so late sowings in a hot climate rarely amount to much.
Hardy to about -8C as a seedling. It is a plant of cool maritime summers, so autumn sowing suits zone 8 and 9 well while hot inland summers defeat it whenever it is sown.
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. Godetias are timed for direct sowing 3 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Shijiazhuang.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Shijiazhuang 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 223 days, against 75 to 95 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Shijiazhuang
Other flowers to time
Growing godetias in Shijiazhuang
When should I plant godetias in Shijiazhuang?
Aim for 10-31 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 24 Mar - 14 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will godetias be ready to harvest in Shijiazhuang?
Expect to start picking around 24 May - 13 Jun, based on 75 to 95 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will godetias tolerate?
Hardy to about -8C as a seedling. It is a plant of cool maritime summers, so autumn sowing suits zone 8 and 9 well while hot inland summers defeat it whenever it is sown.