Wood sage · Wuhan, Hubei, China
When to sow wood sages in Wuhan
Main outdoor window
7 Mar - 4 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
21 February
In Wuhan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jun - 30 Sep
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 Wuhan
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 out
7 Mar - 4 Apr
Two weeks after your last frost.
In flower
1 Jun - 30 Sep
Wood sages through the year
Against the frost risk in Wuhan
Why these dates
Plant out in spring after the last frost. Cut the whole plant back by half as soon as the first flush fades and it will flower again within a month, often twice more before autumn. Leave the final flush standing over winter as frost protection for the crown.
Hardy to -30C. Wants sharp drainage; winter wet is the main risk, and a plant on heavy clay is far more likely to be lost than one in poor gritty soil.
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. Wood sages are timed with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Wuhan.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Wuhan is zone 9a, 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.
Also in Wuhan
Other flowers to time
Growing wood sages in Wuhan
When should I plant wood sages in Wuhan?
Aim for 7 Mar - 4 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 24 Mar - 21 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will wood sages be ready to harvest in Wuhan?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jun - 30 Sep, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will wood sages tolerate?
Hardy to -30C. Wants sharp drainage; winter wet is the main risk, and a plant on heavy clay is far more likely to be lost than one in poor gritty soil.