Summer savory · Shiyan, Hubei, China
When to plant summer savory in Shiyan
Main outdoor window
28 Mar - 18 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
21 March
In Shiyan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
27 May - 11 Jun
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 Shiyan
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
7-28 Feb
Six weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
28 Mar - 18 Apr
One week after your last frost.
Plant out
28 Mar - 18 Apr
One week after your last frost.
Harvest
27 May - 11 Jun
Summer savory through the year
Against the frost risk in Shiyan
Why these dates
Killed by the first frost.
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. Summer savory are timed from 6 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 1 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Shiyan.
The median frost-free season here is 243 days, against 60 to 75 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Growing summer savory in Shiyan
When should I plant summer savory in Shiyan?
Aim for 28 Mar - 18 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 11 Apr - 2 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will summer savory be ready to harvest in Shiyan?
Expect to start picking around 27 May - 11 Jun, based on 60 to 75 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will summer savory tolerate?
Killed by the first frost.