Lily of the valley · Zhaoqing, Guangdong, China
When to sow lily of the valley in Zhaoqing
Main outdoor window
27 Dec - 15 Jan
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
29 January
In Zhaoqing, 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 Zhaoqing
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 pips
27 Dec - 15 Jan
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 May - 30 Jun
Lily of the valley through the year
Against the frost risk in Zhaoqing
Why these dates
Plant the pips - single-budded root divisions - while dormant in autumn or very early spring, 3cm deep with the bud just below the surface. Site it where spreading is welcome; it is difficult to remove once established and will out-compete smaller shade plants.
Hardy to about -35C and needs a cold winter to flower, which is why it performs poorly in mild-winter climates. All parts are seriously poisonous, including the water in a vase of cut stems.
Lily of the valley are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Zhaoqing 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.
Zhaoqing sits in zone 10a, which is milder than this crop wants, and a winter that never really arrives is its own problem. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.
Also in Zhaoqing
Other flowers to time
Growing lily of the valley in Zhaoqing
When should I plant lily of the valley in Zhaoqing?
Aim for 27 Dec - 15 Jan in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 19 Dec - 27 Jan - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will lily of the valley be ready to harvest in Zhaoqing?
Expect to start picking around 1 May - 30 Jun, based on 150 to 190 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will lily of the valley tolerate?
Hardy to about -35C and needs a cold winter to flower, which is why it performs poorly in mild-winter climates. All parts are seriously poisonous, including the water in a vase of cut stems.