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!
About us
The Seed Collection is an Australian owned and operated business, based in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria.
It’s our mission to make more seeds more accessible to more people; we believe everyone should have access to quality seeds and a diversity of varieties at a fair price.
About Us
The Seed Collection was founded in 2008 when our owner, Adam, couldn't find reasonably priced seeds to use in his home garden. With a background in process improvement, Adam could see an opportunity to source the best quality seeds, pack them efficiently and sell them at a price that made them acessible to every gardener. The Seed Collection was founded on this simple idea.
From our origins as a part-time business based at Adam's home, The Seed Collection has grown rapidly and now has dedicated premises in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria. Our team has also grown with us; we're a hard-working bunch dedicated to providing Australian home gardeners with quality products and great customer service. We remain 100% Australian owned and operated.
Starting with just a handful of varieties of vegetable seed, The Seed Collection's range has grown to include a huge variety of vegetable, herb and flower seeds as well as tubers and bulbs, tools, equipment and other gardening supplies. Along the way we like to think we've created a great community of like-minded gardeners.
Philosophy
We believe everyone should have access to a great range of quality seeds and gardening products at a fair price. That's one reason we focus on heirloom and open pollinated seed, so our customers can save their own seeds to plant, swap or store for future use. Our 'more seeds for more people' philosophy extends to information and advice. We want to get more people gardening with better results, so all of our gardening information, newsletters and articles are available to all our customers free of charge on our website.
Like many gardeners, we're environmentalists at heart. That's why we sell untreated non-GMO seed and encourage everyone to grow some 'zero food miles' produce at home. It's also why we sell a wide variety of seeds for herbs and flowers as well as veggies. We love to see our customers increasing diversity in their gardens and creating safe havens for wildlife and pollinators - and people too!
Why are our prices so low?
Here at The Seed Collection we don't spend money on expensive packaging or advertising, and we don't produce glossy catalogues. Instead, we use low-cost packaging and count on our customers to spread the word about our products by telling their friends and fellow gardeners.
Everything we do is done as efficiently as possible, from our packaging to the way we process our orders. We hate wasted time, effort and resources - in fact, we just hate waste! This means we are able to sell our products at a better price than our competitors. Don't believe us? Browse our website and see for yourself.
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