Lavender · Wuhan, Hubei, China
When to plant lavender in Wuhan
Main outdoor window
7 Dec - 7 Feb
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 out
7 Dec - 7 Feb
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.
Harvest
1 Jun - 31 Aug
Lavender through the year
Against the frost risk in Wuhan
Why these dates
Plant out after the last frost. Prune immediately after flowering, taking off about a third but never cutting into leafless old wood, which rarely reshoots.
English lavender takes about -18C in well-drained soil. In heavy or wet ground it dies at temperatures well above that, which is why lavender fails in clay gardens.
Lavender are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Wuhan 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. 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.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 1, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Growing lavender in Wuhan
When should I plant lavender in Wuhan?
Aim for 7 Dec - 7 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 23 Nov - 24 Feb - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will lavender be ready to harvest in Wuhan?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jun - 31 Aug, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will lavender tolerate?
English lavender takes about -18C in well-drained soil. In heavy or wet ground it dies at temperatures well above that, which is why lavender fails in clay gardens.