Climate Zones for Australian Gardeners
Knowing your climate zone will help you decide the best time to sow the vegetables, herbs and flowers you want to grow, and which varieties should perform well in your garden. Growing plants that are suited to your climate zone will usually give you the best results in your garden.
How to Use Climate Zones
First, find your climate zone using the map or descriptions below. Next, refer to our sowing chart, which provides approximate sowing times for our most popular seeds for each climate zone.
While knowing your climate zone is helpful when planning your garden, there are many other factors that may affect how your plants grow, including unseasonal weather conditions, the specific microclimate of your garden and how you care for your plants. You know your garden better than us, so if a different climate zone seems to ‘fit’ your garden better, go ahead and use it as a guide.
Our climate zones cover huge areas of Australia, so we recommend gardeners also consider their local conditions when planning what and when to plant. For example, gardeners in alpine areas have shorter growing seasons than gardeners in cool coastal areas, even though both alpine and coastal areas are included in our ‘Cool Temperate’ climate zone. We recommend gardeners in cool regions look at the ‘days to maturity’ information provided for each variety and choose those that will mature in a short (6-12 week) growing season.
Tropical
- Includes: Darwin, Cairns, Townsville, Exmouth
- High humidity summers with most rainfall in summer and dry, warm winters. Includes northern Australia from Exmouth (WA) across to south of Townsville (Qld).
- Set as my climate
Arid
- Includes: Alice Springs, Mildura, Albury-Wodonga, Shepparton, Wagga Wagga, Dubbo
- Hot dry summers, winters can be warm or cool depending on the region. Includes a large area of central Australia from the WA coast to Charleville (Qld), Tamworth (NSW) and Albury-Wodonga (NSW/Vic).
- Set as my climate
Subtropical
- Includes: Brisbane, Bundaberg, Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, Hervey Bay, Mackay, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast
- Warm humid summers with high summer rainfall and mild winters. Includes coastal Queensland and northern NSW from north of Mackay to just south of Coffs Harbour.
- Set as my climate
Temperate
- Includes: Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle, Toowoomba, Central Coast NSW, Wollongong, Bunbury
- Moderate humidity and reliable rainfall, with four distinct seasons. Includes coastal areas from north of Port Macquarie to south of Woollongong in NSW, coastal SA and the southeastern coast of WA.
- Set as my climate
Cool Temperate
- Includes: Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Mt Gambier
- Low humidity with most rainfall in winter; hot dry summers and cold winters. Some regions will experience frosts and snow. Includes coastal areas of south-eastern Australia and alpine areas of Victoria, NSW and Tasmania.
- Set as my climate
Climate Zones FAQ
What if I can’t find my climate zone?
If you can’t locate your zone from looking at the map or the descriptions on this page, we suggest that you think of
an area that has a climate that’s similar to yours and use the zone for that area as a guide.
What if I live on the border of two zones?
If you live near the border between two zones we suggest you read the descriptions for both zones and decide which
best describes the climate where you live. Depending on the microclimate in your garden, you may be able to grow a
wider range of plants over a longer season than others in your zone. Lucky you!
What is a microclimate?
A microclimate is a small area where the temperature or humidity differs to the climate of the surrounding area. For
example, if you live in a climate zone where frosts are common but your garden is protected by buildings or large
trees, your garden may be frost-free. Similarly, if you live in a warm temperate zone but your garden is at a high
altitude your microclimate may have more in common with the cool temperate zone, so use this as a guide when
deciding which zone is relevant to you.
Can I grow varieties not listed for my climate zone?
While our climate zones and sowing chart will help you decide what is suitable to plant in your garden, they provide
general guidance only. We recommend you start by sowing seed that’s recommended for your climate zone; once you get
a few successes under your belt you can experiment with varieties in neighbouring zones and see how you go –
gardening is all about experimenting after all!
Christmas Seed Pun-pack - Herbs & Veggies
- 10 Individual Envelopes
- Fun Gift Idea
Description
'Christmas Seed Pun-Pack' seeds
- 10 Individual Envelopes
- Fun Gift Idea
This Christmas themed seed pun-pack just can't be beet!
Includes 10 colourful seed packets printed with Christmas themed vegetable and herb puns containing the relevant seeds and detailed sowing information within.
Each pack of seeds comes in its own individual colour printed recycled envelope, with a 'To' & 'From' section on the back so you can split them up and give them out individually, or as one gift. Perfect replacement for Christmas cards or gift tags. Can be used as stocking stuffers, work gifts or even with your Bon Bons on the Christmas table.
It really is a pun-derful life!
-Each individual packet contains the relevant sowing instructions.
Product code: 00-XMAS-PUN
Quick Planting Guide
Contains
-
1 x Cauliflower- Early Jesi (Brassica oleracea botrytis)
Large white heads growing up to 1.8kg. Fast growing. Leaves and heads can be eaten raw or cooked.
Life Cycle: Hardy Biennial (usually grown as an annual)
Plant Height:
Position: Full sun, moist soil -
1 x Tomato- Tommy Toe (Solanum lycopersicum)
Heirloom and one of the most popular varieties available. Climbing. Large cherry tomatoes growing up to 4cm. Exceptional flavour; very sweet. Long cropping. Good disease resistance.
Life Cycle: Frost tender Annual
Plant Height:
Position: Full sun, moist well drained soil -
1 x Chilli- Siam (Capsicum annum)
A Mexican chilli with a mild flavour that can be eaten fresh or cooked whole. The long smooth chillies start green and mature to yellow/orange. Suitable to grow in containers.
Life Cycle: Frost Tender Perennial
Plant Height: 60cm
Position: Full sun, well drained soil -
1 x Beetroot- Detroit (Beta vulgaris)
Very popular variety for growing roots, baby leaves and microgreens. Dark red, globe shaped roots growing up to 7cm; very good flavour. Green tops with tinges of dark red. Resistant to downy mildew.
Life Cycle: Hardy Biennial (usually grown as an annual)
Plant Height:
Position: Full sun, moist well drained soil -
1 x Watermelon- Sugarbaby (Citrullus vulgaris)
Summer vine fruit. Round fruit with tough green skin and bright red flesh, growing to 4kg. Very sweet flavour. Well suited to cooler climates. Excellent home variety. Drought resistant. Early producing.
Life Cycle: Frost tender Annual
Plant Height:
Position: Full sun, moist well drained soil -
1 x Eggplant- Black Beauty (Solanum melongena)
Perennial grown as an annual in cool climates. Very popular variety. Bushy spreading plant that produces smooth, rounded, black/purple fruit growing to 16 by 13cm. Commonly used in stews, sauces, baked, fried, stuffed and grilled. Eggplant is also known as "Aubergine".
Life Cycle: Frost tender Perennial (grown as an annual in cool climates)
Plant Height:
Position: Full sun, moist well drained soil -
1 x Carrot- All seasons (Daucus carota)
Large orange roots growing to 20cm. Can be planted almost all year round. Very popular in Queensland and New South Wales. Good disease resistance.
Life Cycle: Half hardy Biennial (usually grown as an annual)
Plant Height:
Position: Full sun, well drained soil -
1 x Lettuce- Loose Leaf Mix (Lactuca sativa)
Loose leaf lettuce mix with a mixture of red, green and bronze coloured loose leaf lettuce varieties. Popular variety for home gardeners. Easy to grow. Perfect for salads.
Life Cycle: Hardy Annual
Plant Height:
Position: Part or full sun, moist well drained soil -
1 x Chinese Mustard Greens- Gai Choi (Brassica juncea)
Fast growing, semi-heading variety with wide green leaves and thick white stems. Medium mustard flavour. Can be used as a leaf vegetable or salad green. Great for stir fries and soups. Good for pickling. Good variety for baby leaves.
Life Cycle: Hardy Annual
Plant Height:
Position: Part or full sun, moist soil -
1 x Chinese Celery- Light Green (Apium graveolens var. dulce)
Upright habit. Thin light green stalks and aromatic green foliage. Stalks much thinner and more tender than common celery varieties; can be used raw or cooked. Leaves are used as a flavouring; fresh or dried. Ideal in salads, soups, stir-fries and as a cooked vegetable. Great flavour. Easier to grow than common celery.
Great variety for microgreen production, ready in approximately 30 days.
Life Cycle: Hardy Biennial (usually grown as an annual)
Plant Height:
Position: Part or full sun, well drained soil
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Shipping
We deliver Australia wide.
All orders are dispatched from our warehouse in Knoxfield, Victoria, Australia.
We do not deliver overseas.
Shipping cost is calculated using all the items in your shopping cart and your delivery postcode. The table below outlines the delivery options and costs.
Order dispatch time is currently 2 business days plus delivery time.
Please note we are unable to guarantee specific delivery dates or delivery timeframes, all delivery times are estimates only.
| Order contains: | Delivery options: | Delivery cost per order | |
|---|---|---|---|
| VIC, NSW, ACT, QLD, TAS, SA, NT | WA | ||
| Small seed packets ONLY - | Economy Delivery | $3.00 or FREE on orders over $25 | $5 |
| Parcel Delivery | Capped rate of $8.99 | ||
| Express Delivery | $15.00 | ||
|
BULK seed, garden supplies, tools, or accessories - |
Parcel Delivery |
Capped rate of $8.99 |
|
|
Express Delivery |
Starting from $15.00 (Calculated by weight) |
||
| Live Plants - | Live plants | Capped rate of $10.00 | |
*All orders sent to Western Australia are subject to mandatory inspection and fees by Quarantine WA. These fees are included in all shipping costs above.
**We will replace all orders that are lost or damaged in transit however we will not replace or refund orders simply because they were delivered later than estimated. Full details here.
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