Russian sage · Sohag, Sohag, Egypt
When to sow russian sages in Sohag
Main outdoor window
31 Jan - 28 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
17 January
In Sohag, 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 Sohag
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
31 Jan - 28 Feb
Two weeks after your last frost.
In flower
1 Jul - 30 Sep
Russian sages through the year
Against the frost risk in Sohag
Why these dates
Plant out in spring after the last frost. Leave the woody stems standing over winter and cut them back to 15cm in early spring as the new buds appear - cutting in autumn removes the crown's own frost protection and is the usual reason a plant is lost in a cold winter.
Hardy to -30C in dry soil, considerably less in wet. Winter drainage is the deciding factor everywhere near its cold limit.
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. Russian sages are timed with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Sohag.
Sohag sits in zone 10b, 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.
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.
Also in Sohag
Other flowers to time
Growing russian sages in Sohag
When should I plant russian sages in Sohag?
Aim for 31 Jan - 28 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 8 Feb - 8 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will russian sages be ready to harvest in Sohag?
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 russian sages tolerate?
Hardy to -30C in dry soil, considerably less in wet. Winter drainage is the deciding factor everywhere near its cold limit.