Snowdrop · Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
When to sow snowdrops in Cairo
Main outdoor window
not outdoors here
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
no spring frost
In Cairo, on your chosen risk.
First autumn frost
no autumn frost
The far end of the outdoor season.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Cairo
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.
Snowdrops through the year
Against the frost risk in Cairo
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 Cairo instead of forwards from its start.
Cairo sits in zone 10b, 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.
Also in Cairo
Other flowers to time
Growing snowdrops in Cairo
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.