Sage · Manhattan, New York, United States
When to plant sage in Manhattan
Main outdoor window
29 Apr - 27 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
15 April
In Manhattan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 May - 31 Oct
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 Manhattan
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
18 Feb - 18 Mar
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Plant out
29 Apr - 27 May
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
1 May - 31 Oct
Sage through the year
Against the frost risk in Manhattan
Why these dates
Start indoors 8 weeks before the last frost or plant out after it. Never cut into bare old wood - unlike most shrubs, sage frequently fails to reshoot from it.
Hardy to around -20C. The leaves look wretched after a hard winter and the plant recovers regardless.
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. Sage are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Manhattan.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Manhattan is zone 7a, 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 1, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Growing sage in Manhattan
When should I plant sage in Manhattan?
Aim for 29 Apr - 27 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 8 May - 5 Jun - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will sage be ready to harvest in Manhattan?
Expect to start picking around 1 May - 31 Oct, based on 75 to 90 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will sage tolerate?
Hardy to around -20C. The leaves look wretched after a hard winter and the plant recovers regardless.