Camassia · Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China
When to sow camassias in Ürümqi
Main outdoor window
10-24 Sep
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
13 April
In Ürümqi, 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 Ürümqi
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
10-24 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 Ürümqi
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 Ürümqi instead of forwards from its start.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Ürümqi is zone 6b, 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 192 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 Ürümqi
Other flowers to time
Growing camassias in Ürümqi
When should I plant camassias in Ürümqi?
Aim for 10-24 Sep in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 27 Aug - 10 Sep - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will camassias be ready to harvest in Ürümqi?
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.