When to sow hostas in Kinshasa

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 Kinshasa 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.

Kinshasa sits in zone 13a, 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.

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.

See every crop timed for Kinshasa →