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.

climate map

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 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 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 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 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 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!

This gallery showcases all the photos entered in our May 2025 "Gardening Friends" competition. See the different animals and creatures our customers have as companions in their gardens below.

Congratulations to this months winner Renae K in SA; we loved seeing Hughie, Pip and Indy all handing out together in the garden!

Poppy Gnomes (QLD)

Poppy Gnomes says: This is Rani! A very beautiful girl, who LOVES to dig holes throughout the lawn and steal all the strawberries (see second picture where she was caught red-handed). She also loves sunbathing outside with all the flowers and having a good sniff around the veggie patch.

Bronwen (VIC)

Genevieve says: This is Pipin Cat, and she loves to join me outside in the garden. Her favourite hobbies include playing in dirt, eating dead twigs off my plants, chasing leaves and taking a snooze in my pot plants, regardless of any plant growing within. She enjoys snoozing in pots so much that I have brought a pot containing failed ranunculus from last season inside for her to snooze in. I’m sure they failed because it was her favourite snooze spot last year.

Tammy Gloster (VIC)

Tammy Gloster says: Wanda helping with the pruning

Meg (VIC)

Meg says: My reliable little friends are always there…under a lettuce leaf, visiting the zinnias or popping out of a zucchini flower.

Sally K (VIC)

Sally K says: Gracie enjoying the morning sun amidst the kangaroo paw.

She doesn't mind getting her own paws dirty helping mumma in the garden either!

Romeo (VIC)

Romeo says: My goats Faunus & Amalthea (destroyers of blackberry); ducks Jup & Tess (snail and slug patrol), and dog Epona (digger of holes).

Pamster (VIC)

Pamster says: Doug is my Parson Terrier, there is no show without punch. We are starting from scratch on our new block so lots of earth works going on. This particular drain is for one of our water tanks that will Water the veggie patch and chooks. It was a shame I couldn’t send the video of this work, Doug was convinced there was something in the pipes he was hilarious with his head up the pipe, biting and shaking it.

Cookie (the kookaburra) comes everyday for a visit. My garden is only just being created so there is lots of work going on creating new beds, poly

Tunnel drainage etc. Cookie is fearless he comes in close and watches my every move. He is great company.

Renae K (SA)

This months winner.

Renae K says: Hughie, my little poddy lamb was a great companion in the gardens. Initially he was freely roaming around as I planted seedlings. But then the seedlings started disappearing! Both Pip and Indy kept a close eye on him, but couldn’t stop his grazing behaviour coming through.

Mountains harvest (NSW)

Mountains harvest: These are our helpers in our garden. Jean, Jet and Milly in first photo. Milly and Lulu in the second and Dot in the third photo. They are extremely helpful. Us and the neighbours that are looking in our garden, love them helping in the garden. Scratching the soil and leaving blobs of good fertilizer. We love them, they are a good bunch.

Dinah C (NSW)

Dinah C says: These are some of the regular visitors who help us with pest control or soil aeration!

Naomi Green (SA)

Naomi Green says: My beautiful ladies (Buttercup, Marigold, Rose, Tulip, Bluebell and Snowdrop) are always out helping me in the veggie patch. Most the time they are helpful helping aerate the compost heap, picking up the bugs and weeds and sometimes they are a little less helpful stealing my raspberries and tomatoes and eating odd seedlings but I love them and they are worth the missing raspberries.

Sian (QLD)

Sian says: The Foreman, busy at work

Reid Homestead Dream (NSW)

Reid Homestead Dream says: Max spends a lot of time making sure birds, leaves, and cars passing by do claim the backyard and all the plants. It’s only far he is represented.

Two acres and us (NSW)

Two acres and us says: Can you spot the dog?!

Crazy Daisy loves autumn leaves.

Denise (SA)

Denise says: Cooper my Burmese gardening friend testing my patience in my imatiens pot.

Rel (VIC)

Rel says: Luna is great at deadheading the flowers and loves to help dig the vege patch ready for winter planting.
A nap, using her tiger toy for a pillow, is needed after a big morning in the garden. Mum then sneaks back out to repair the damage and get some gardening done!

Simone Baker (TAS)

Simone Baker says: These little girls follow me everywhere in my garden, they love to have bantam dust baths close by where I’m working sharing their dust with me and even wanting to help dig up the dirt for me too, sometimes they are a bit to helpful and need a little shoo away.

Michaela (WA)

Michaela says: Our lovely Buff Silky Rooster Eagle - doing his thing in the garden and White Fluffy about to scratch in the fallen leaves and mulch in our orchard.

Zen (QLD)

Zen says: Young Masters Hook and Licorice are not only great company in the garden but also very helpful. They assist me with bug control, fertilizing and one of their favorite hobbies - turning mulch (often out of the garden beds, but they are young and still learning the finer points of gardening)

Tessa (VIC)

Tessa says: Millie, my golden cocker spaniel pup, loves 'helping' in the garden. Digging, weeding, sniffing and keeping me company are ways we enjoy our time in the garden.

Macca (NSW)

Macca says: The best gardening companion that a gardener could have.

Celia Collins (VIC)

Celia Collins says: This boobook owl has been roosting in our Japanese Maple nearly every day for the past 2 months. When we walk under the tree he never flies off but just looks at us quizzically to see what we are up to, every night he takes off, presumably to hunt but is usually back in the same spot the next morning. Of course I am saying 'he' but could very well be 'she'!

Gaily Snaily (NSW)

Gaily Snaily says: Rainbow Lorikeet in the red eucalyptus tree, making alot of noise, letting his presence be known.

Love them in the garden & always in pairs, they are naughtty & nice

Monarch Butterfly caterpillars 2 on the milk weed. Love having the beautiful cocoons hatching in the garden on other plants never on the same plant they feed from. Butterflies are graceful & busy all the time, love, love them
Thank you for choosing my garden

Fungus'eating ladybird. Helpful insect, adults feed on black mould & other fungi.
Good friend in the garden.

Kez (SA)

Kez says: Pussy cat is Queen Mimi the first . Ike and Tina the lizards ( they argue a lot haha ) and spider boy !! The first one rolls around everywhere and smells the flowers and the other three eat pests . All are welcome

Darren (WA)

Darren says: Missy's favourite thing about our garden is finding the spaces in between - the little dog-sized patches where plants don't grow, or where she's cleared a place for herself. Is there anything better than curling up in the winter sun? We love that she can enjoy these spaces, it makes our garden truly feel part of our home.
Maggie on the other hand is a digger and chewer. Her white fur gives away exactly what she's been up to, and those ears don't quite fit neatly in a pot. You could say she loves the garden more than the garden loves her.

Kristy-Ann (QLD)

Kristy-Ann says: Pleased to see the pest control patrol is on the job. This young butcherbird is demolishing the grasshoppers that eat my plants. He and his buddies, who get black and white uniforms when fully trained (magpies, magpie lark and butcherbirds) are very effective at controlling pests in my garden.

We also have the rainbow lorikeets who like to dine at the birdie bistro and splurge or on nectar cocktails in the surrounding trees, they bring the party to the garden.

And when it's warm, good old Harry can be counted on to be lounging about somewhere. I can him a racing stripe skink because of this awesome line green stripes, but I think he's actually a comb-earred skink. There's been several generations of Harry and Harriet popping their heads out to say hi, whenever it's nice and warm.

Scissorhands (NSW)

Scissorhands says: Zurich the corgi would come for a cuddle but he prefers the comfort of indoor where he can keep an eye on his food.

On the other hand, his bff Q the sheltie is the garden supervisor who likes to micromanage his pawrents. He is often found rolling on the grass and enjoying the ever-changing scent of the seasons.

Dianne (NSW)

Dianne says: 1. Introducing my favourite Garden Buddies! This is a full-grown Dwarf Eastern Green Tree Frog! There must be hundreds of them in various gardens that I planted over the last 7yrs. This one is sitting in a Day Lily, with which they seem to love & have a symbiotic relationship, helping pollinated the flowers &, in turn, get rewarded by catching the pest s that eat the flowers. If you are familiar with Day Lilies, you can see these frogs are tiny! Females can reach a maximum size of 25–30 mm, while males may only reach 20 mm when fully grown!

2. This is 'Tom' who assists (sometimes) being a Garden Helper with 'Mia' but usually can be seen keeping various decorative cane baskets about the place warm & ready for cut flowers I may take inside or just chillin' out conserving his energy being a garden ornament! He also was a Rescue Kitty at the same time of 'Mia', but he had was so thin & dehydrated I didn't think he'd pull through. He's also now 12yrs old.

3. This is 'Mia' surveying all she can see from a high fence post at my new address out of town. 'Mia' is a rescue kitty & was bought to me by the local Ranger as a tiny kitten when he found her in a gutter. I had just lost my old 17yr old cat from an age-related illness, that was the exact same colour!

'Mia' assists me in the garden with constant smooches, distracting me so I don't see her favourite weeds & reminding me it might be time for my cuppa & bikkies for her!
She's been my garden assistant now for 12yrs! You might say 'From Gutter Waif to Gardening Guru'!

Tamara (QLD)

Tamara says: After our dog of 13 years passed away, being in the garden was hard. I missed her faithful companionship as she followed me about. We weren't ready to have another dog, but one day I decided to welcome two gorgeous little bantam chickens to share our world. They are Elsie and Esme and they are everything I could have hoped for. They are the greatest of friends and I love watching them do their chicken thing and cluck softly about. They love a treat and a cuddle, and while they don't replace our beautiful old dog, they do make us smile once more.

Aimee (WA)

Aimee says: These are out pet geese, who reside in a yard of their own beside my vege patch. They also have access to our oak/truffle paddocks, but have their pond and get fed in their own yard. The excess trimmings, cuttings, and outgrown plants etc tend to end up in a pile in their yard to get burnt, by the end of Autumn the pile is huge.

The photos here were taken after the initial burn, when I had put a heap on the pile that was too green to burn....the geese were most interested and spent the next week investigating it and eating what they could - even from the top of the pile!

They are very cheeky - I only managed to harvest about a third of my tomato crop this year because they kept breaking in to the vege patch, till I finally worked out how they were escaping.
Every time I go in there to weed, water etc they line up in a row and watch, waiting for any pecked fruit or greens for a treat.

Marmaduke - the grey goose, thinks he is in charge of the yard - he is always first in line for any vege scraps, but the rest of the white flock aren't shy in fossicking for their share!

Joanne (NSW)

Joanne says: Helpful and bright, and all things nice in mine and my daughter’s gardens.

Dorothy (VIC)

Dorothy says: Kaiser was his name, A very well loved family member. He didn't just dig his bones in the ground he made crateres for them.He was always with me while l was gardening.Passed away 2019 aged 10, still sadly missed..

Tangerlyn (VIC)

Tangerlyn says: After filling my Garden with Salvias of all varieties and colours finally l have created a home for my favourite birds in my Vermont garden, the Spine Bill.

Penny (VIC)

Penny says: Meet our resident ringtail possum "Dale" (the kids named him, not me!)He loves to hang out in our garden, mostly during the late arvo into early evening, and is very friendly. We've made a nestbox for him in one of our larger trees, which he's found comfy and helps him feel protected. Thankfully, Dale leaves the edibles I've planted alone - preferring to eat the callistemon flowers and new growth, as well as eucalypts further down the street. He is a wonderful little gentle friend to have share our area.

Cathryn (VIC)

Cathryn says: Bear and Gina are the guardians of all they survey. Astrid has just begun her idyllic life in the chicken Hilton

Purple Nat (VIC)

Purple Nat says: My little Sydney, she’s my constant companion in the garden.

Cottage garden (NSW)

Cottage garden says: Butters the cat enjoying the tea room, kylo the dog romping on the garden path, bunny staying out of the garden

Lauren C (NSW)

Lauren C says: Mr Hammy, Sabrina, Arabella and Pepper love to hang out in this pot and sunbathe. Sometimes there’s more chickens than soil!

Nature-haven (QLD)

Nature-haven says: Hi
These are some of my garden friends.

When we moved to our home the yard was just grass with no birdlife or insects to find. We've planted masses of flowers, grasses and native plants and now we have so many garden friends such as birds, lizards, insects, frogs and even some Tree Snakes. Here are some of our friends that visit.

A pair of Pale Headed Rosellas visit our garden daily to feast on seeds they find among our many plants and flowers.

A Lesser Wanderer butterfly also loves visiting our garden to find nectar in the many flowers we have.
My last garden friend is one of our resident Little Wattlebirds. A family of three visit our garden each day to splash about in any of our seven birdbaths. They splash around so much that we have to refill the baths everyday. They just seem to love our garden and its Grevilleas and baths. They are a joy to watch.

Thanks.

Jojo (QLD)

Jojo says: Raven and Misty. Raven came to us from a friend as a day-old chick. In her first few hours, our friend rescued her from being trapped inside a hard, sticky egg-membrane. Even with utmost care, some of Raven’s tiny new feathers were stuck into the membrane, so she was a little less-feathered than the others, and the smallest. But she survived the first night, and then thrived. Since then, she has been the most curious, most friendly, most persistent, smartest, and the best layer we have. She is a very naughty chook who gets into everything, but we forgive her! Our dog Misty loved watching the chickens grow up, but Raven fearlessly used to peck at Misty’s hair to see if it was edible! Dear gentle Misty put up with a lot! Now Misty knows Raven isn’t supposed to get into the garden unless we say so, and is keeping a close eye. Misty is a little timid of Raven – now she’s not a chick anymore, but will give her a gentle nudge along if needed. But Raven especially loves the mustard greens here, and will try, and try again!

Newly Budding Green Thumb (WA)

Newly Budding Green Thumb says: This is Gooseberry, the porch cat. He showed up several weeks ago and has been helping supervise while we do our spring planting. His only request is that we take frequent breaks to give him pets and attention. He loves to roll around in the grass next to my raised planters.

Jen (NSW)

Jen says:

There’s a little group of ladybugs in my garden I’ve come to think of as The Dotsquad. They spread out across the plants, especially around the roses and kale, where aphids like to sneak in. The ladybugs aren’t flashy about it, just going about their work, keeping the garden in balance without much fuss.

They’re not perfect, of course. Sometimes they disappear for a bit, and I’ll catch them napping in flower petals or tucked into shady corners. But I like that about them. They do what they need to, in their own time, and the garden is healthier for it.

It’s become a small habit now, checking that branch in the morning to see if they’re still there, tucked in like a little community. It’s a quiet kind of joy.