Orlaya · Jinzhong, Shanxi, China
When to sow orlayas in Jinzhong
Main outdoor window
24 Mar - 21 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
21 April
In Jinzhong, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
22 Jun - 22 Jul
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 Jinzhong
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
24 Feb - 24 Mar
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
24 Mar - 21 Apr
Four weeks before your last frost.
Plant out
7 Apr - 5 May
Two weeks before your last frost.
In flower
22 Jun - 22 Jul
Orlayas through the year
Against the frost risk in Jinzhong
Why these dates
Sow direct four weeks before the last frost into cool soil, or start indoors eight weeks before it. Germination is slow and uneven at the best of times and much better after a fortnight of cold, so autumn sowing suits it. Self-seeds where the drainage is good enough.
Hardy to about -12C. Autumn sowing is the traditional method around the Mediterranean and works anywhere in zone 8 and milder. Humid summer heat brings it to an early end.
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. Orlayas are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Jinzhong.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Jinzhong 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 180 days, against 90 to 120 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Jinzhong
Other flowers to time
Growing orlayas in Jinzhong
When should I plant orlayas in Jinzhong?
Aim for 24 Mar - 21 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 1-29 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will orlayas be ready to harvest in Jinzhong?
Expect to start picking around 22 Jun - 22 Jul, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will orlayas tolerate?
Hardy to about -12C. Autumn sowing is the traditional method around the Mediterranean and works anywhere in zone 8 and milder. Humid summer heat brings it to an early end.