Calla lily · Wuhan, Hubei, China
When to sow calla lilies in Wuhan
Main outdoor window
28 Feb - 28 Mar
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 - 31 Aug
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 the rhizomes
28 Feb - 28 Mar
After the last frost, once the soil has warmed. This crop is never fully dormant, so it cannot be planted bare-root in winter.
In flower
1 Jun - 31 Aug
Calla lilies through the year
Against the frost risk in Wuhan
Why these dates
Plant a week after the last frost, 8cm deep, and water generously - this is one of the few plants here that cannot be overwatered in summer. In zone 8 and warmer it can be left in the ground and treated as an ordinary perennial.
Hardy to about -5C with a mulch, and the white-flowered species is the toughest of the group; the coloured hybrids are appreciably more tender. Below zone 8 lift and store the rhizomes, or overwinter the pot dry under cover.
Calla lilies are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. Nor is there a dormant season to plant into: this crop keeps its leaves and keeps growing through the winter, which is exactly why cold damages it. The window on this page therefore waits until the last frost in Wuhan has passed and the soil has begun to warm, giving the roots the longest possible run before the cold returns.
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.
Also in Wuhan
Other flowers to time
Growing calla lilies in Wuhan
When should I plant calla lilies in Wuhan?
Aim for 28 Feb - 28 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 17 Mar - 14 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will calla lilies be ready to harvest in Wuhan?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jun - 31 Aug, based on 100 to 130 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will calla lilies tolerate?
Hardy to about -5C with a mulch, and the white-flowered species is the toughest of the group; the coloured hybrids are appreciably more tender. Below zone 8 lift and store the rhizomes, or overwinter the pot dry under cover.