Flower · Apiaceae
When to sow orlayas
Lace umbels with an outer ring of enlarged petals, so it reads as a flower rather than a froth. A Mediterranean plant, so it wants sun and sharp drainage and dislikes being fed.
Start seed indoors
8 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Plant out
2 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Sow direct
4 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Seed packets rarely give calendar dates, because a date that suits one latitude is wrong at another. They give offsets from the last spring frost instead, and those offsets are what make orlayas plantable anywhere.
- Start seed indoors 8 weeks before the last frost.
- Plant out 2 weeks before the last frost.
- Sow direct 4 weeks before the last frost.
- Expect 90–120 days to maturity, counted from sowing.
- Hardy in USDA zones 3a–9a.
Getting the timing right
Sow direct four weeks before the last frost into cool soil, or start indoors eight weeks before it. Germination is slow and uneven at the best of times and much better after a fortnight of cold, so autumn sowing suits it. Self-seeds where the drainage is good enough.
Frost tolerance
Hardy to about -12C. Autumn sowing is the traditional method around the Mediterranean and works anywhere in zone 8 and milder. Humid summer heat brings it to an early end.
Classified as hardy, with damage expected below -12°C (10.4°F)10.4°F (-12°C).