Crocosmia · Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China
When to sow crocosmias in Lianyungang
Main outdoor window
25 Nov - 8 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
22 March
In Lianyungang, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jul - 30 Sep
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 Lianyungang
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 corms
25 Nov - 8 Mar
Any time the plant is dormant and the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged: after leaf fall in autumn, or at the end of winter before growth restarts.
In flower
1 Jul - 30 Sep
Crocosmias through the year
Against the frost risk in Lianyungang
Why these dates
Plant corms while dormant, in autumn or early spring, 8cm deep. Divide congested clumps every three or four years in spring - flowering falls away noticeably once the corms are crowded, which is the usual reason an old planting stops performing.
Hardy to about -15C, and the common orange montbretia rather hardier than the large-flowered named forms. Mulch in the first winter after planting; established clumps need nothing.
Crocosmias are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Lianyungang is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Lianyungang is zone 8b, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Also in Lianyungang
Other flowers to time
Growing crocosmias in Lianyungang
When should I plant crocosmias in Lianyungang?
Aim for 25 Nov - 8 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 12 Nov - 21 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will crocosmias be ready to harvest in Lianyungang?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jul - 30 Sep, based on 120 to 150 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will crocosmias tolerate?
Hardy to about -15C, and the common orange montbretia rather hardier than the large-flowered named forms. Mulch in the first winter after planting; established clumps need nothing.