Zinnia · Bachuan, Chongqing, China
When to sow zinnias in Bachuan
Main outdoor window
15 Feb - 1 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
8 February
In Bachuan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
16 Apr - 6 May
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 Bachuan
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
11-25 Jan
Four weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
15 Feb - 1 Mar
One week after your last frost.
Plant out
15 Feb - 1 Mar
One week after your last frost.
In flower
16 Apr - 6 May
Zinnias through the year
Against the frost risk in Bachuan
Why these dates
Direct sowing after last frost usually beats transplanting - zinnias dislike root disturbance and catch up quickly.
Killed by the first frost at either end of the season. Strictly a warm-season flower.
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. Zinnias are timed from 4 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 1 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Bachuan.
The median frost-free season here is 314 days, against 60 to 80 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Bachuan
Other flowers to time
Growing zinnias in Bachuan
When should I plant zinnias in Bachuan?
Aim for 15 Feb - 1 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 5-19 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will zinnias be ready to harvest in Bachuan?
Expect to start picking around 16 Apr - 6 May, based on 60 to 80 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will zinnias tolerate?
Killed by the first frost at either end of the season. Strictly a warm-season flower.