When to plant salsify in Boston, Massachusetts
August 1 – August 15
Fall planting · typical Boston yearClimate basis: NOAA station Boston Logan INTL AP, MA (USW00014739), 3 mi (5 km) from downtown Boston (ZCTA 02108 centroid), elevation 12 ft, on the 1991–2020 climate normals. Plant salsify for fall from approximately the dates above, anchored to the median first fall 32°F freeze (November 9). One year in ten still freezes after April 17.
The Boston year
- indoors under lights
- in the garden
- frost-free season
- 1-in-10 years still freeze to Apr 17
Every method, with its sources
Fall planting
Aug 1 – Aug 15University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension fact sheet FSA6094 says to "Plant the seed in deep, well-prepared fertile soil in late spring or summer (about 100 days before freezing weather)," and the parenthetical — the only frost-anchored part of the instruction — encodes as a 14-day sowing span opening 100 days before the first freeze; no other extension source with a frost-relative salsify rule was found, so nothing required reconciling. Anchored to the median first fall freeze (Nov 9). University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service
Start seeds indoors
Not calculatedThe cited extension guides do not time an indoor seed-starting window for this crop.
Transplant outdoors
Not calculatedThe cited extension guides do not time an outdoor transplanting window for this crop.
Direct-sow outdoors
Not calculatedThe University of Arkansas fact sheet gives salsify's spring timing only as a season ("seed late winter or spring"), not as an offset from the last spring freeze, so no spring window is computed here.
Variety assumption: Assumes true salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius) such as Mammoth Sandwich Island at about 120 days; note the Arkansas fact sheet heads its section "Salsify – Tragopogon porrifolius or Scorzonera hispanica" and lists a black-rooted scorzonera cultivar alongside it, so this entry deliberately covers only Tragopogon and black salsify is left as a separate plant.
These windows describe typical years (1991–2020 climate normals), not this year's forecast. Freezes happen outside them — especially in frost pockets, valleys, and urban edges. Watch the forecast before committing tender plants.
Crop rule sources (1)
- University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service: Salsify (Home Gardening Series), FSA6094, Craig R. Andersen (accessed 2026-07-25)"Plant the seed in deep, well-prepared fertile soil in late spring or summer (about 100 days before freezing weather)."