Lovage · Karaj, Alborz Province, Iran
When to plant lovage in Karaj
Main outdoor window
17 Apr - 8 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
1 May
In Karaj, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 May - 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 Karaj
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.
Start indoors
6-27 Mar
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
17 Apr - 8 May
Two weeks before your last frost.
Plant out
15 May - 5 Jun
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
1 May - 30 Sep
Lovage through the year
Against the frost risk in Karaj
Why these dates
Very hardy. Dies back entirely and reappears early in spring.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Lovage are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Karaj.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Karaj is zone 6b, 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 2, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Growing lovage in Karaj
When should I plant lovage in Karaj?
Aim for 17 Apr - 8 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 3-24 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will lovage be ready to harvest in Karaj?
Expect to start picking around 1 May - 30 Sep, based on 80 to 100 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will lovage tolerate?
Very hardy. Dies back entirely and reappears early in spring.