Camassia · Oral, West Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan
When to sow camassias in Oral
Main outdoor window
29 Aug - 12 Sep
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
26 April
In Oral, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 May - 30 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 Oral
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 bulbs
29 Aug - 12 Sep
Four to six weeks before your first frost, so roots form before the ground cools.
In flower
1 May - 30 Jun
Camassias through the year
Against the frost risk in Oral
Why these dates
Plant in autumn, 12cm deep. The one bulb in this section that positively suits a wet winter site, so it is the answer for the low corner of the garden where everything else has failed. Leave it alone once planted; it dislikes being lifted.
Hardy to -30C. Native to seasonally flooded meadows, so winter wet is not a threat, though it wants drier conditions once dormant in summer.
Camassias are anchored to the first autumn frost rather than the last spring one, so the planting window on this page counts backwards from the end of the season in Oral instead of forwards from its start.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Oral is zone 4b, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
The median frost-free season here is 167 days, against 180 to 220 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Oral
Other flowers to time
Growing camassias in Oral
When should I plant camassias in Oral?
Aim for 29 Aug - 12 Sep in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 21 Aug - 4 Sep - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will camassias be ready to harvest in Oral?
Expect to start picking around 1 May - 30 Jun, based on 180 to 220 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will camassias tolerate?
Hardy to -30C. Native to seasonally flooded meadows, so winter wet is not a threat, though it wants drier conditions once dormant in summer.