Stonecrop · Changsha, Hunan, China
When to sow stonecrops in Changsha
Main outdoor window
6 Mar - 3 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
20 February
In Changsha, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Aug - 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 Changsha
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
6 Mar - 3 Apr
Two weeks after your last frost.
In flower
1 Aug - 31 Oct
Stonecrops through the year
Against the frost risk in Changsha
Why these dates
Plant out in spring after the last frost, in full sun and unimproved soil - rich ground makes it grow soft and flop. Leave the dried heads standing all winter; they hold snow and frost better than almost anything else in the garden.
Hardy to -30C. The succulent leaves take frost without damage. Overfeeding and shade cause more failures than cold ever does.
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. Stonecrops are timed with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Changsha.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Changsha 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 Changsha
Other flowers to time
Growing stonecrops in Changsha
When should I plant stonecrops in Changsha?
Aim for 6 Mar - 3 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 25 Mar - 22 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will stonecrops be ready to harvest in Changsha?
Expect to start picking around 1 Aug - 31 Oct, based on 120 to 150 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will stonecrops tolerate?
Hardy to -30C. The succulent leaves take frost without damage. Overfeeding and shade cause more failures than cold ever does.