Hosta · Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
When to sow hostas in Harbin
Main outdoor window
6 Oct - 14 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
28 April
In Harbin, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jun - 31 Aug
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 Harbin
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.
Plant the crowns
6 Oct - 14 Apr
Any time the plant is dormant and the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged: after leaf fall in autumn, or at the end of winter before growth restarts.
In flower
1 Jun - 31 Aug
Hostas through the year
Against the frost risk in Harbin
Why these dates
Plant while dormant in autumn or early spring, with the crown at soil level. Divide in early spring just as the shoots break the surface, when it is obvious where to cut. A hosta reaches its full size in year three and is unimpressive before then.
Hardy to -35C and completely dormant in winter, so cold is irrelevant to it. Needs a cold winter to break dormancy properly and performs poorly in frost-free climates. Emerging spring shoots are damaged by a hard late frost but recover.
Hostas are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Harbin is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Harbin is zone 4a, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 2, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Harbin
Other flowers to time
Growing hostas in Harbin
When should I plant hostas in Harbin?
Aim for 6 Oct - 14 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 29 Sep - 21 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will hostas be ready to harvest in Harbin?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jun - 31 Aug, based on 150 to 190 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will hostas tolerate?
Hardy to -35C and completely dormant in winter, so cold is irrelevant to it. Needs a cold winter to break dormancy properly and performs poorly in frost-free climates. Emerging spring shoots are damaged by a hard late frost but recover.