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!

The results are in for our February "Show us Your Garden" competition, and we couldn't be more thrilled to share the amazing passion and creativity of our gardening community! It's been a joy to see so many unique styles and approaches to gardening, and we hope you find inspiration and delight in browsing through these wonderful entries.

Congratulation to Jacqueline Felsinger from Tasmania who was the winner of the $100 store credit. We loved seeing how you are adapting to your challenging but beautiful environment!

Look our for more competitions soon!

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Kate (NSW)

Kate says: Afternoon sun through the garden wild. Here you can see the results of me experimenting overtime by letting plants self seed. In this photo you can see amaranth, sorrel, tomatoes, taro, fennel, leeks, dandelions, Vietnamese mint, borage, marigolds, chia, grevillea, dahlias and in the foreground the loropetalum and Mallee bird bath which is a favourite feature and frequented by many wrens, sparrows, parrots, blackbirds, skinks and bees.

Kate says: My biggest helper and biggest fan of being in the garden, my rescue dog is predominantly responsible for spreading the plants seeds everywhere because he loves helping by pruning dried woody stems of plants off with his teeth and pushing things around as I work in the garden. Here you can see him taking a break in the strawberry patch with some big sunchokes in the background

Kate says: I planted a single unknown variety of oregano a couple of seasons ago and it surprised me very much this spring by producing all these lilac flowers over a meter tall which I have never seen before!! I don't particularly like cooking with oregano but I like aromatic plants and having these flowers come up in contrast to the blue borage flowers behind them was very magical. The garden wild always surprises me. Sometimes when you let nature do its own thing, magic happens.

Duncan (NSW)

Duncan says: Native bush garden. Years of weed removal, planting and maintenance.o

Duncan says: A prostrate form of Melaleuca hypericifolia. The flower spikes appeared in spring and summer followed by the fruit which are woody, capsules with the sepals remaining as teeth around the rim.

Duncan says: Using Commelina cyanea to stabilise the bank. The native Senna acclinis you can see in the background is an endangered plant, it is important people working in restoration to be able to distinguish between the two species.

Lucy (NSW)

Lucy Says: I grew some Kent pumpkins up the umbrella tree on the back fence to save some space. I wasn’t sure if they’d get enough sun under the tree but they made it to the top and are now cascading back down with the odd pumpkin here and there. There are some louffas hidden in the curtain of vines somewhere too.

Lucy Says: I absolutely love the insects that my garden patches have brought. I don’t like to remove anything, I like watching the ecosystem work with its aphids and lady beetles and hoverflies and wasps and assassin bugs and spider mites and mite destroyers- it’s all so fascinating to watch. But I especially love the blue banded bees that seem so keen on all the blue flowers. They visit these red chicory flowers every morning.

Lucy Says: My partner calls my gardening style ‘messy’. Everything piled in together. Herbs and spinach at the front, okra in the middle, taro at the back and beans on the fence, with sweet potato and tetragonia as a bit of an out of hand ground cover.

Julie Robinson (WA)

Julie Robinson Says: Volunteer pumpkins from my compost! The two self-sown pumpkins are loving our summer heat. I love finding large surprise pumpkins hidden away among the pumpkin and sweet potato leaves.

Julie Robinson Says: This photo shows one of the garden beds in spring time. This garden bed runs roughly north to south. I love the happy mix in this bed including natives such as Billy Buttons and an Eremophila ground cover, a cherry plum (time will tell if I ever get any fruit due to our heat), salvias and poppies. There's also rosemary, lavender and a Buddleia. So much work has gone into this garden being just me, my trusty wheelbarrow and time. Perth has really sandy soils so I constantly bring in compost and nutrient rich soil. I've also placed a huge pile of mulch that was taller than me to form temporary paths. Eventually I would like to have limestone paths around all the garden beds and a limestone base in the central courtyard.

Julie Robinson Says: This is a relatively new garden project, started in September 2023. All work so far has been done by me with my trusty wheelbarrow. I've started with garden beds that wrap around the outer edge of this garden area. Future works include a central courtyard which will have another semi-circle garden bed wrapping around it so it's hidden from all sides except the opening to the north. The style is of a wild, permaculture garden with fruit trees, vegetables and many flowering plants for beauty and to welcome all the pollinators. I'm particularly excited every time I find native blue-banded bees in the garden. The garden already has 16 trees in it with more to come. Perth has extreme summers and plants suffer during this time if not shaded, so I'm eager for canopy cover over this area.

Onlyplants.get.dirty.roots (QLD)

Onlyplants.get.dirty.roots Says: My reclaimed plant trolley, it works perfectly for taking seedlings in amd out of the rain or sun quickly

Onlyplants.get.dirty.roots Says: My beautiful seed grown zinnias that somehow have survived the last 2000mm of rain we have gotten over the last month

Onlyplants.get.dirty.roots Says: My pathway that i created by myself with no experience! The path will soon take me the whole way around my garden and will have solar lights along the sides with zinnia, diannthus and a varigated ground cover that im unsure of its name. Cant wait untill its complete!

Jacqueline Felsinger (TAS)

This months winner!

Jacqueline Felsinger Says: This is my greenhouse, built by my talented husband! Growing in a greenhouse is imperative here, given our cold and windy climate. I grew tomatoes, cucumbers, chili, capsicum, eggplant, and herbs in pots and even giving watermelon a go! I found that not many bees were pollinating in the greenhouse, so I thought I would try planting calendulas as well, and they worked a treat in attracting bees and other pollinators! For the trellises, we used fencing wire which was left over from the fencing around our veggie patch, which also works perfectly.

Jacqueline Felsinger Says: This little patch was my 'trial patch'! I wanted to utilise the space better, so I planted pumpkins on 4 pumpkin tower trellises in each corner. I also planted sweetcorn down the centre, baby beets (mostly harvested) and dwarf beans. As you can see, I've also planted sunflowers and bee attracting flowers to attract pollinators for my pumpkins. Just need more sunshine to ripen up the pumpkins, and thinking next season to plant pumpkins more suited to cool weather.

Amending the soil in this patch was quite a challenge as we have clay soil, but as mentioned, I am slowly amending my soil with various organic materials and know that this is a process which will take some time. But all part of the fun!

Jacqueline Felsinger: We live in a remote area on the southern tip of beautiful King Island, Tasmania, and are in the process of building our own home. Our goal is to live a self-sufficient lifestyle, and growing our own organic produce is a huge part of this. I started my vegetable garden around April 2024 and for the first time in my life, am experiencing how amazing it is to grow and eat your own produce!

The cold and windy weather here can be quite challenging at times, but I am learning how to adapt my gardening to the particular climate of my area. Another challenge is that we have clay soil, and so have slowly been amending my soil with various organic materials and aged cow manure, which we get from local paddocks and load up in our trailer. One of the key features of our garden is our dog Moses who keeps the possums away! I've discovered that the gardening journey is filled with lots of 'trials & errors', but this is where I feel I have learned the most, and will continue to learn.

So here is my garden so far...my beautiful, tranquil space filled with so much joy as I see my vegetables begin to flourish from the simple planting of a little seed!

Kartren (VIC)

Kartren Says: The first time I've been able to grow Rudbeckia and zinnias, I'm very proud!

Kartren Says: I love my enclosed vegetable garden, which is needed to keep the possums from eating my seedlings

Kartren Says: Aerial view of my vegetable garden

Esther Griggs (TAS)

Esther Griggs Says: The Seed Collection fueling my summer garden dreams!

Esther Griggs Says: Seedlings germinating from direct planting for the first time!

Esther Griggs Says: Looking out from my veggie garden out to my bush block that is now starting to really thrive as a flower garden with lawns and yards for our family. 4 years ago, this was literally all bush!

Penny (VIC)

Penny Says: This has been my first year ever trying to grow flowers from seeds, and although this little garden bed had very clay heavy soil I’ve had great luck with direct sowing zinnias, nasturtium, cosmos, California poppies, paper daisies and a few cornflowers, as well as planting dahlia tubers. As a complete beginner I wasn’t so focused on style or overall form, just wanted a bright and colourful mix that would attract bees and be something fun for my dog Clementine to sniff and explore (which as you can see she has been enjoying). It’s honestly just been nice as a beginner to be able to try out a few different types of plants and varieties without needing to spend 100s of dollars on seedlings!

Penny Says: My absolute favourite part of the garden are the different shades of everlasting daisies that have come from sowing multiple seed varieties. I was really unfamiliar with natives and so did not expect much, but these plants have been blooming for weeks and just keep springing up with different gorgeous shades of pink, red, and white. Apart from their beautiful colour I also love how much the bees tend to gravitate towards and enjoy these flowers too!

Penny Says: I’ve been so happy with how my zinnias have grown, as they were my first experiment with raising seeds in trays indoors and then transplanting the seedlings into the garden, and they have probably been the most abundant of all of the flowers. I have found a lot of useful tips through your articles but specifically used « Hardening Off Seedlings: The Key to Successful Transplanting » to successfully transplant these to the garden and keep them healthy and strong.

Gina (NSW)

Gina Says: We purchased this house in Sapphire Beach just out of Coffs 6 months ago. Where the pavers and water feature are was a rotted pine wooden deck exposed to the elements. We bought 2nd hand pavers and saw this design on Pinterest. It’s so nice sitting out under the alfresco in the afternoon with a drink enjoying it after all the hard work.

Further down the yard, I have 4 planter boxes with a lot of vege seeds I purchased from you. We have spinach, corn, bunching onions, several varieties of tomatoes, cucamelon, spaghetti squash, and lots of herbs to name a few. I just love seeing the seeds grow into plants then we get to eat them.

This is only part of our garden we have built from a weeded mess and we love it.

Gina Says: This photo shows the veggies in the planter box’s which were covered in weeds and so much mint now we have a beautiful veggie garden. It took a lot to turn all the soil and loosen it up as the planters are 2m long, and one had to be turned around completely. A lot of shoveling. That was a slow process but now it’s beautiful. We planted a lady finger banana which was only 1 metre high when we purchased it now behind the planters, you can see how fast it is growing. It has to be 3m tall now. I also have fruit trees such as cumquat, orange, lemon, lime, fig, and olive.

We have a pond with just water plants. There are can canna Lilly, elephant ears, purple picklerush and a pretty yellow marshwart to name a few, and a solar frog water feature. This was originally a goldfish pond with no fish in it just very green water so we turned it into a pond garden.

Lastly, a bird bath circled with lavender plants which originally was an outdoor camp style BBQ, it was pretty ugly.
I’ve tried to plant flowers that attract bees. I again bought seeds from you alyssum, petunias, marigold and sunflowers.

It’s amazing what you can do in a suburban garden.

Gina Says: This is a favourite. Imagine, the entire area of the paving was a rotted pine deck with a wooden wall along the back. So the best thing to do was rip it up and replace it with something else. Originally we were going to put a goldfish pond in the middle but hit rock which meant too much digging. There were 16 cemented logs which were used for the decking. We tried removing it manually but nearly killed us so we got a jackhammer, job was done in an hour.

We bought 2nd hand pavers and the water feature from Bunnings. We were lucky we had a powerpoint close by. Saw a design on Pinterest and off we went.
Some of the plants in there included herbs such as rosemary, oregano, and thyme.

There is also crepe myrtle, bird of paradise, alpine strawberries, lavender, buxus, and china doll which I propagated from cuttings that I will train to grow on a single stalk and make a ball design so it doesn’t get too bushy. The same will be done with the crepe myrtle.

It’s just a peaceful place to sit under the alfresco with a drink listening to the sound of the fountain.

KristelRuby (VIC)

KristelRuby: This is my garden my daughter and I are starting to get it going we wish to grow all our fruits and veggies here and create a safe peaceful world for us to nurture ourselves and our space

KristelRuby: My daughter loves watching and discovering all of the beautiful creatures!

KristelRuby: Our sculptures are growing as we learn new skills

Betty (VIC)

Betty Says: This is my veg patch. Some seeds I have bought from seed collection. My cucumbers have produced lots of flowers and fruit despite the hot weather. My Kang Kong and the sweet potato vines are abundant and great tasting too.

Betty Says: Kang Kong

Betty Says: Sweet potato vines

Glenbar Garden (VIC)

Glenbar Garden Says: We have a large country garden in Sth Gippsland, Victoria. It’s a mixture of perennials, annuals, large borders and trees. My husband and I do most of it ourselves for 45 years. I’m very keen on growing from seed and love zinnias and cosmos.

Glenbar Garden Says: Zinnias grown from seed

Glenbar Garden Says: New garden not quite one year old grown from cuttings and seeds

Home (WA)

Home Says: It's a work in progress. It is yet to become full blown sanctuary where birds visit and coffee is consumed. But it's home

Home Says: First season of Nashi Pears. So exciting.

Home Says: Shade protection for all the dwarf fruit trees. Best thing ever so far. My trees have survived. And are holding fruit

Sylvia D (NSW)

Sylvia D Says: My little backyard garden area with 2 homemade raised garden beds and 1 in the ground area.
I have successfully grown so many crops from the seeds I bought here. It has brought me so much joy over the last year. :)

Sylvia D Says: It has to be this raised garden bed I built by myself. I built this for my climbing vegetables and have successfully grown some beans and peas :)

Sylvia D Says: This is my most recent harvest of this white summer squash!! I’m so impressed and amazed by how cute and delicious this squash is. Seeds were bought from you guys! So so grateful. :)

Izzys garden (NSW)

Izzys garden Says: In this photo is our container garden on our balcony, we love our little Blueberries plant and strawberries which give our 4-year-old wake up in the morning to check if there’s any fruit to be picked.
We love to sit any of the day and looking our pots conner full of colour and in winter our Orchid flowers beautifully and smell divine. Thank you hopefully you guys can enjoy our garden too

Izzys garden Says: This is our Blueberries we grow in pots, our friends told us that our blueberries won’t last in the pots. But after trial and error, we have them grow great in our pots because we changed the potting mix to a gardenia’s potting mix and have been fruitful. We been have having them for 3 years now

MindfulVeg (VIC)

MindfulVeg Says: I love your seeds! 100% germination rate every time!! My garden is my absolute happy place. When I’m not giving back to my community or earning a quid you will find me sowing, growing or harvesting something. When my husband asks.. are you ok? (Because I’m not).. then I haven’t been in to the garden to clear my head. Thank you for your great products and great information

Raised organic garden beds (NSW)

Raised organic garden beds says: This is my raised vegetable garden. When we moved in this was a weird shaped piece of unproductive lawn. Each year it produces countless kilograms of organic vegetables, herbs, berries, as well as a few flowers. Having raised beds is easier on my back, and having several beds makes crop rotation simple. It can get rather messy from time to time, especially when I allow things to set seed, but it is intended to be a productive garden rather than ornamental.

Raised organic garden beds says: I love growing buckwheat. It goes from seed to flower in next to no time, it suffers no pests or diseases, and it attracts and feeds many beneficial insects. This can be allowed to drop seed, or dug under as green manure, or cut and fed to the chickens. Buckwheat is such a useful plant, it has a place in every garden.

Raised organic garden beds says: These are some of the delicious tomatoes I picked from my garden. Each year my kids help me grow tomatoes form seed, they help me pick (and eat) the tomatoes, and they help me save seeds for the following years. Many of these tomato varieties are heirlooms, some are varieties that we have bred and stabilised ourselves - meaning we are creating our own family heirloom varieties! If there is one way to get kids to eat their veggies, it is involve them and breed something they think tastes great.

Kezza (SA)

Kezza says: Where to start . These are early photos as I set up my 1 fruit orchard. 2 veg and flowers bed in formal garden . 3 roses ready to plant out. Will also have a tropical corner with water feature. Oh so much I want to do !! …..

Kezza says: My small food forest is coming along nicely. Best way to meet neighbours with free tomatoes for all !!

Kezza says: Very proud of my fruit trees . Can’t wait to show my great nephews/nieces how food is grown.

Eilish (VIC)

Eilish says: This pumpkin from my garden is very heavy.

Eva_growing (QLD)

Eva_growing says: Norman (the cat) and our balcony jungle! 20+ fruit tree seedlings, dragonfruit, herbs and greens for me, my partners amorphophallus collection, and our quail pen!

Eva_growing says: It’s a tight squeeze but we make it work. We’ve netted the balcony to keep the possums out and the cats in. This doubles as a place to trellis tomatoes and dragonfruit, and grow the malbar spinach for shade and quail food.

Eva_growing says: It’s nice to watch it change over the seasons and become progressively more wild and jam packed. The cats have enjoyed getting more shady hiding spots.

Two Scarecrows (TAS)

Two Scarecrows says: Our Vegetable garden at Weetah Tasmania is a busy place where each year we grow enough food for several households. It is our privilege to share the produce with local friends but also with our hard-working and much loved Community House in Deloraine where anyone who needs extra food support can collect the surplus we delivery there each week. As Quakers we are committed to Earthcare stewardship and we always say that caring for the Earth begins in the garden.

Our garden design is sectional and is rotating each season. We always include a "Wildflower Meadow" along the borders for bees and beneficial insects, also habitat for birds. We keep two birdbaths nearby and also sand for dust baths. One day we saw more than a dozen Goldfinches all stop in for a dust bath at the same time!

Two Scarecrows says: Our Giant Sunflowers are a hit with the bumblebees and birds. We also save and dry the heads each year for snacks. As our garden is directly along our rural road, the school bus goes past each day so the children can see the sunflowers in bloom.

Two Scarecrows says: It's most important to have a "wild" flower section near the vegetable garden. It brings beneficial insects and bees and offers cover for the birds who help "police" the less welcome insect visitors to our space. We always include lavender hedges amongst the wildflower section both for this plants durability but as a forage source for the bees. We use the lavender flowers dried in hand-sewn sachets in our closets and clothes drawers. OF course there is always enough extra lavender to give away!

Tamara (QLD)

Tamara says: My beautiful vegie and pollinator patch - a magical space that nourishes our family in mind, body and soul as well as all the birds and bees and bugs that call our garden home... My favourite flowers - zinnia, cosmos and dahlia, all grown from The Seed Collection seeds...

Tamara says: I always add lots of flowers to attract beneficial insects, help pollinate our vegies, and to simply look utterly delightful. My favourites are gaura, zinnia, dahlia, cosmos, roses, nasturtium, sweet william and pansy. It has taken a couple of growing seasons, but we now have a system that takes care of itself! I have very few pests or disease and it is all done naturally. Nature at her most beautiful.

Tamara says: I use old pieces of reo to help support my climbing vegies and flowers, to maximise our space and productivity.

I have four bird baths around the garden to help my beautiful feathered friends. Since we moved here almost 15 years ago, we have planted out the garden in a way that has encouraged over 50 different birds to visit or call our garden home and I'm so very humbled by that.

Elle Brice (NSW)

Elle Brice says: A mixed veg garden that includes sunflowers, zucchini and corn from theseedcollection

Elle Brice says: Double Dazzler in all its glory

Elle Brice says: I managed to harvest one cob of corn before the corn plants were infested with aphids, bugs it’s almost perfect! I had to remove the rest of the corn plants and start again.

Alex’s Secret Garden (VIC)

Alex says: My secret garden! I live in an apartment but very lucky to have a private garden on the ground floor. I started this garden from scratch 2 years ago to include a veggie patch, natives, green house, herbs and a seating area to enjoy the view. My favourite plant is the passionfruit vine covering the back fence, and the coffee tree to the left of the arch Im trying to grow!

Alex says: My favourite flower I grew from seed - the summery sunflower.

Alex says: I love growing seedlings and sharing excess produce with my neighbours. I put these out the front of my apartment for people to take as they need, so others can enjoy the joy of gardening!

Kerry’s front yard of your dreams (NSW)

Kerry says: Our front yard was an unused plot of dead grass & thriving weeds. I transformed it in winter ‘24 with cardboard, compost & woodchip mulch. The pumpkins are all volunteers, & are sizing up superbly! The trellis for the purple beans was put in after harvesting our first crop of potatoes. I think we got six good ones

HortiKate (WA)

HortiKate says: Using a permaculture approach, I am in the process of transforming a single large area of kikuyu lawn, into a productive patch which invites creatures of all sorts to take up homes! I have sheet mulched and planted onto and into this surface, using containers such as bathtubs and reclaimed pots as well as lasagna type beds.

This is the view from my back porch.

HortiKate says: My bathtub carrot patch, now gone to flower and seed, attracting wild numbers of ants and honeybees!

The bathtub allowed me to create an ideal soil bed needed for carrots, resulting in a great continuous harvest over months, as they were very densely seeded.
Delicious beauty!

HortiKate says: Favourite summer friends! Cheerful cosmos, so delicate yet hardy (thriving in poor sandy soil like mine!) and a sample of several basil varieties grown this season, each a delight in its unique flavour and scent.
One of the many joys of gardening is the constant sense of discovery, and trying out new plants in my patch.

Produce Paradise (QLD)

Produce Paradise says: Built from scratch with lots of love and effort, my garden is my happy place. We turned this grass patch at the back of our house into a sectioned veggie garden complete with large garden bed and herb tubs. The finishing touch is the lemon and lime trees in pots to mark the passing of each of my grandparents - my grandma believed in planting trees to remember people by.

We have learnt so much about growing food and love it! We have had success with spinach, eggplants, tomatoes, snowpeas, zucchini, and all sorts of herbs. We are now patiently waiting to see if our pineapple pots will produce a pineapple in a year or so!

It’s such a nice escape to potter around in this garden on a weekend - always a much needed break from screen time and busy weekdays.

Produce Paradise says: One special feature of my garden is my attempt at growing a pineapple. My aunty’s an avid gardener and gifted me these pineapples to plant and gave me all her tips.

I also had no idea how pineapples actually grow until I started doing this so it’s been good to learn where food really comes from.

It’s been about 10 months, so still some time to go but I’m excited to see what happens!

romahoney grows (VIC)

romahoney grows says: Hello, This is the productive part of our block. Comprising three wicking beds for veg's, a cutting garden with cosmos and zinnias, and a dahlia patch that is a labour of love.

romahoney grows says: This a great part of the dahlia patch. With Hillier Tannunda, Robin Hood, and a cheeky zinnia.

romahoney grows says: This is a small sample of where I would like my garden to be in the future - using flowering perennial plants that are more climate compatible, with a few dahlias tucked in here and there.

John Malipaard (QLD)

John says: Started from scratch. Residents supply bottles, cans and plastic which in turn are exchanged at recycling facilities for money to fund our soil, plants, etc. Edging is courtesy of debris from nearby bushland , stakes and pegs are cut from Crepe Myrtles when cut back, leaf litter is gathered from various sources locally which is placed between beds and is great walk on, then when beds dug up composted leaf litter applied to bottom of beds. Residents supply kitchen waste for compost which allows garden to be totally organic leaving us with a chemical free garden, with a rustic feeling for residents to sow, tend, harvest and share

John says: Garden bed borders are sourced from nearby bushland. Garden soil is a mix of sand, mushroom compost and premium organic compost. Pathways are dug out and filled with leaf litter gathered internally and from appropriate places , gradually filling paths and eventually reused once broken down then placed in bottom of garden beds Stakes and pegs are gathered when Crepe Myrtle shrubs are cut back. This bed has snake beans, butter beans, egg plant, rosemary, basil amongst tomatoe plants. Cosmos flowers home for the bees, 2yr old lemon, lime and mandarin trees in background To achieve this area we had to eradicate “Singapore daisy”, it was dug up and all soil was sieved, a thick sowing of mustard seed sown(purchased from The Seed Collection) and dug into the existing soil

John says: Tomato plants surrounded by basil plants, good mates who look after each other. This companionship had worked and gives us a tasty crop . No pest or disease to contend with . Both are fertilised using liquid seaweed. Butter beans behind to act as shade block from westerly afternoon sun

Linda (QLD)

Linda says: Beautiful Dalia flowers in my garden. I bought dahlia bulbs from the seed collection

Linda says: Okra flowers

Linda says: Hug : )

Sianne (WA)

Sianne says: We decided to remove all of the grass and laid gravel. Hubby built 5 huge raised vege patches, and I filled them with a selection of goodies from The Seed Collection. We installed a cactus garden into the gravel, using pieces salvaged from Owy’s Cactus Nursery and green waste plants, following 2 tornadoes in the area. The garden is 3 months old and doing well, handling the summer heat.

Sianne says: My prize cactus is a variegated piece from the cactus nursery. They sold a lot of pieces of cactus after the tornado that nearly wiped them out. We had an old chiminea that I painted and filled with succulents. They are thriving and are spilling out of the mouth now, and look great.

Sianne says: The vege boxes were so large, we filled the bottom third with broken bricks, then lined it with shade cloth. This reduce the soil needed significantly and provided great drainage. A windmill has provided a trellis for the baby dragon fruit, so it will eventually grow up the middle and drape from the centre stays.

More trees please (VIC)

More trees please says: My garden doesn’t really have a style as such. It’s a bit of an eclectic mix of plants that’s constantly changing. My favourite area at the moment is creating a mini woodland area with silver birches. It’s a very peaceful corner which I hope will become more enclosed as the trees grow

More trees please says: I really enjoy having a shady area for hanging pots and wall pots. The grapevine creates shade in summer and lets sunlight in in winter

More trees please says: An old vege garden has been turned into a frog pond which allows me to grow water lilies while also giving frogs a haven

Kim Wiggins (NSW)

Kim says: This is my vegetable garden, well half of it:) I have a back injury so it is all raised beds that are 600mm high and 600mm wide, so no bending or reaching. The total area is about 5m x 4m. I absolutely love spending time in here and I try to keep the garden full of vegetables, flowers and herbs. Usually by late winter it is absolutely magical, pumping out fresh veggies and herbs. I get enough food out of the garden to cover about 85% of the vegetables my family eat.

Kim says: The hole garden is enclosed and protected from possums by chicken wire which is hard to see in the photo. At the back of all the beds I have used galvinised rio trellises supported by star pickets.This makes it easy to support beans, peas, and in this photo tomatoes.

Kim says: If I run out of space in the beds, I use potato grow bags to gain extra space. In the photo featured they are full of lettuce and bok choy.

Shae Wheeler (VIC)

Shae Wheeler says: I love to plant indigenous natives for my soil type and location, a ‘heathy woodland’ according to the Gardens for Wildlife program. The courtyard garden has flowers for joy and pollinators plus expensive to buy herbs. Our style is edible, natives and joy!

Paradise (QLD)

Paradise says: Our beautiful flower and vege garden.

Paradise says: Lovely flowers and great perennials.

Paradise says: Fruit trees maturing can’t wait to taste the fruit.

Ali (VIC)

Ali says: This is my balcony garden, where I am experimenting with what vegetables can be grown this way. Cherry tomatoes, tomatillos and cape gooseberry are dominant in this picture. I am also growing flowers, I affectionately refer to my balcony as the insect and spider sanctuary, there is so much life here after a short time trying to grow myself a few veggies.

Ali says: Zinnia being visited by a blue banded bee, tomatoes in the background.

Ali says: King parrots enjoying the cherry tomatoes.

Angela J (VIC)

Angela J says: We have 6 veggie beds and love spending time out in the garden, we have to harvest every second day. we share our spoils with family friends and neighbours asd we also have a free box on the side of our property where we share additional produce and seedlings that we haven't planted.

Angela J says: We went with native plants and replaced the cottage garden that was over grown, we have a frog pond and love to sit out in the undercover area and listen to them in the evenings

Jo (VIC)

Jo says: This was a wasteland at the back of my garden with clay soil no bees or other living things.I'm only learning so I built the soil up, with my own compost, put up a fence to stop the dogs getting to it - added a found wash trough and bought some grow bags. Planted cucumbers up the fence, pumpkins along the ground and tomatoes and herbs in the grow bags. I let the grass grown and oregano go to flower to keep lizards and insects safe and made water bowls with rocks hidden in thr pumpkins for bees and insects to drink from

Jo says: Success - I grew something and it was the best tasting cucumber ever

Jo says: I recycle everything I can get my hand on and found this statue on hard rubbish and the calendula on a waste heap and gave them a new home

Emma (VIC)

Emma says: Garden overlooking the chook pen. First year growing capsicums, and the zucchinis are going strong

Emma says: Always win my heart with a sunflower

Emma says: All flowers in the photo were grown from seed from me. Very proud of my flower oasis.
Trial and error

Bunbun (VIC)

Bunbun says: On the left is most of our flowers in the garden bed and on the right is most of our fruit and vegetables. Then scattered around the backyard is my brother in laws potted fruit trees lol. It’s our first year doing a garden so its a little all over the place but we’ve been having fun and learning a lot.

Bunbun says: These are chillies I got that are very pretty, they start off purple then go yellow, orange and then red. Haven’t gotten a chance to eat them yet though but I think they’ll be tasty.

Bunbun says: I saw this flower at bunnings in the clearance section, it was half dead with no flowers so it was only 3$. I don’t have the money to spend on this type of flower normally because they are normally 13$ so I was very happy I was able to save it!

Christine (WA)

Christine says: Beautiful flowers all grown from seed purchased from the Seed collection

Christine says: Sunflowers are my favourite I love watching the birds grazing on them first thing in the morning

Happenstance (NSW)

Happenstance says: Lavender growing well in the dryer, well drained soil on the rock wall and Marshmallow growing in the damper are area around the rainwater tank

Happenstance says: Young heritage fruit trees with strawberries, self seeding annuals, medicinal herbs and perennials. My entire 1/2 acre garden (from totally bare rock and dust) is only 5 years old

Happenstance says: Right outside the yurt is my flourishing heritage veggie garden of many varieties of herbs, nasturtiums and marigolds. This area was ph 9 due to dumped lime mortar in the1800’s. With a bit of hard work it’s now good friable ph 5-6 soil.

Amy Drought (QLD)

Amy says: Large food forest in a retainer wall to protect from summer floods. An archway with be created alongside it with the Surinam Cherries and Gramichamas. Banana trees surround the fire pit. Granny flat at the far end.

Amy says: A Cassava plant is growing beside a Buddha. I created this as a reflection of my visit to Vietnam; I ate Cassava wedges for the first time after the Cu Chi Tunnel tour. I also visited many spiritual places.

Amy says: Growing some tasty watermelons to suppress the weeds by shading them out. It’s great to plant ‘living ground covers’ to lower the maintenance (less manual weed pulling and whipper snipping) and provide flowers for pollinators and fruits for the family. This is especially true in summer or busy times.

Barry Ward (VIC)

Barry Ward says: We are on the top of an exposed, windy hill in Central Victoria. Here we have our front garden of predominantly native plants. There is a small patch of lawn between the house and the plants. The stone work was done by ourselves, using stone collected from our property. Watering is reliant on dam water and rain.

Barry Ward says: We have designed a u-shaped raised garden bed, with a little seat in the middle and covered by a grape vine grown on an old "Hill's Hoist". Behind it is a little green house/seed raising house, built from scraps of wood and recycled windows and tin. We do not have mains water where we are and so rely on dam water for watering. We have a small pond made from a cattle trough to encourage frogs and lizards. We have an old bath for a worm farm and a re-used water tank to grow pumpkins and watermelons in (they are not in the photo).

Barry Ward says: This is what we call our "Covid Nature Walk". During Covid lock-downs, we spent most of our time outside, dedicated to this project.We fenced off a section of a paddock next to our chook pen and started planting a mixture of tube stock natives and cuttings and seeds we had collected and propagated ourselves. This is what we have four to five years later! The diversity and amount of bird life and insects that visit is thrilling. We have had to learn by trial and error what is suited to our climate, and we live daily with the challenges of kangaroos and rabbits. However, we are constantly reminded that even in a "dark time" in Victoria's history, new life and opportunities can grow!

Lai Yee (NSW)

Lai Yee says: My garden is only 6 metres by 4 metres but it sure packs a punch with edibles and ornamentals. I let the garden do its thing and let it create little pockets of surprises when I find a little cucumber or a zucchini hiding amongst the growth.

Lai Yee says: The pathway to my garage at times has felt like a secret garden because the plants offer start to invade the is walkway. The bay leaf tree is not only providing shade in the summer but is also a trellis for my dragon fruit and snake beans.

Lai Yee says: I like to mix edibles with ornamentals to create a diverse garden

Jess (VIC)

Jess says: Our thriving veggie garden is in our tiny backyard in a suburban area. Proving you don't need a lot of space to have a garden! We created a garden bed ege using sleepers along the fence, and installed a mixture of rectangular and round corrugated beds, at different heights. We wanted a sprawling garden that feels lush and packed to the brim with variety. One half of our yard is a productive edible garden, the other end (not pictured) is a Australian flowering native garden to attract wildlife, with some grass for our dog or course!

Jess says: Something we are especially proud of in our garden is our fruit trees, like our two dwarf Cherry trees, grown espalier against our fence line, making full use of every last inch of growing space! We also have a huge passionfruit growing along the fence, which makes use of the narrow space down the side of our house. Limited space is always a challenge, but growing up vertically gives us the best results!

Jess says: Living in a housing estate, without any established trees or gardens, we found it a challenge to attract bees and insects, as well as birds, to our garden for pollination and a healthy ecosystem. We decided to plant giant sunflowers in the raised garden beds, for extra elevation. We also bought mixed flower seeds (along with our Veggie seeds) from The Seed Collection, and grew an abundance of pollinator friendly plants. We noticed after a while, that our flowers attracted so many bees and insects. It is because of this we've been able to have a thriving garden that we love and gives so much back to us!

Stephen King (NSW)

Stephen King says: My 3 vegetable gardens. I live in a caravan park in a very small town in Quinninup in the Southwest of WA. I have lived here for 3 years now as a result of being left homeless from the covid times. I had no soil to start with, as its all clay based. I created all my own soil from leaves and sticks, biochar, food waste and kangaroo poo. I wasn't sure how I would go but I'm happy with most of my plants except I struggle to succeed growing corn.

Thank you for this Opportunity
Stephen

Stephen King says: OMG. I didn't think my Sunflowers would grow so tall. I had quite a lot of trouble keeping the sunflowers upright and at my first attempt all my seedlings the kangaroos ate all my seedings

Stephen King says: This are has a lot of water that created flooding, I placed this garden bed there to make good use of the water and stop the flooding and grow some food.

Christine Winton (VIC)

Christine Winton says: My 91 yo Dad posted bean seeds from WA... they are special to me, and watching them grow gives such joy!

Small balc, afternoon sun

Christine Winton says: 39 degrees, hot northerly winds. I used wet towels to shelter my *babies!* They were attacked by minute brown insects, so I made chilli and garlic spray...loss of leaves but still, a few flowering buds remain. My seeds for next season!

Christine Winton says: Proud of my Dad and myself for both our efforts!

The Seed Bomber (VIC)

The Seed Bomber says: There's absolutely nothing big about my garden - it's a collection of pots and this is my culinary veg and herb "shelf" which has all kinds of things growing in it including bush beans, mint, basil, chives, sage and galangal. It's proof you can grow a lot in a small space!

The Seed Bomber says: I love this self-watering planter, and in winter I buried a couple of asparagus crowns in it. As there appeared to be no shoots in December, I scattered cucumber and basil seeds on top. To my surprise, healthy asparagus shoots pushed their way up and filled out the space with a vengeance this January! The basil is a little sulky about the shade, but the cucumber is unfazed.

The Seed Bomber says: Strawberries seem to survive anything I throw at them - last year, my three plants multiplied into ten so our family have all been enjoying a daily strawberry or three this last few weeks.

The Poo’s Patch (VIC)

The Poo’s Patch says: In my garden more is more! There’s always room to experiment with a new plant I haven’t grown before and a mix of edibles and gorgeous florals

The Poo’s Patch says: A mix of dahlias, cosmos, zinnias and many more. The colours are so happy and bee attracting

The Poo’s Patch says: My pumpkin arbour ( look over the powdery mildew hectic weather) and it has many huge Kent pumpkins growing by along with a few other varieties with strawberries either side reusing milk crates and hessian sacks

Christine Yunn-Yu Sun (VIC)

Christine Yunn-Yu Sun says: This is a corner of my greenhouse, where I try to utilise the vertical space above a planter stand. There are 36 spots/pockets, so I put in a variety of succulents that I think look good against a black background. The water used for these plants will drip down to the planter stand below where strawberries and sweet alyssums are grown. Not showing in the photo is an irrigation system that I recently installed, which allows water to drip from the top of the "succulent pocket garden" and again benefit the plants below.

Christine Yunn-Yu Sun says: This is my north-facing kitchen window, where I use the narrow space between the sink and the window frame for propagation. The window itself features the plants outside, which resemble a jungle and often have birds hopping and chirping during the day and possums chewing on new leaves at night. In front of the window are plants such as (left to right) propagated pothos, some sort of flat African Violet, a small aloe vera, a taro grown from tuber, a lettuce and some green onions grown from kitchen leftover, more taro tubers submerged in water, etc. It is a mess, but great for propagation thanks to the heat from the sink and the shaded light.

Christine Yunn-Yu Sun says: This is one end of my greenhouse, just above the turtle tank. It is facing south but has strong western sunlight in the afternoon, even when it is roughly shaded by the plants outside the window. So the space above the turtle tank is used for begonia and pothos, where they grow really well. The turtle tank itself helps supporting pothos and sometimes spider plants. The photo shows one of the shelves along the wall, where Persian Shields, snake plant and a variety of succulents are growing.

Jane Kumar (NSW)

Jane Kumar says: This is my garden from the side. I try and do alot of companion planting to get the most of the space. The corn, zucchini, carrots and eggplant are flourishing at the moment. Everything in the garden is easily accessible to my 2 year old and 4 year old.

Jane Kumar says: This is our pumpkin patch/ potatoe patch. Every morning the kids inspect the pumpkins and ensure the bees are thriving. Next to to the patch we have scarlet runner beans, Corn, Cucmbers, carrots an eggplant..

Jane Kumar says: This zuchinni plant was wiltered down to nothing, after some trimming of the leaves and rain it has come back with vigour. We have picked 3 large zuchinni's from this plant in the last week.

Sue (QLD)

Sue says: I have handmade wicking beds for vegies (old tank cut in 3). 23 fruit trees, 3rd year. I have 4 chickens who have free rein around the enclosed orchard.

Sue says: With the lack of rain and excessive heat here in the Mid North it’s been a battle getting seedlings going this year. I grew my seeds in a greenhouse then moved them to my wicking beds, only 50/50 success. I do love to grow our own food. This is my 3rd year of our 23 fruit trees, some have done better than others. We are battling the wind here also, most of my spring blooms are in the wind! Having only had gardens in the North Brisbane area and Cairns, Queensland, this has been of a learning curve for me.

Knomor Garden (VIC)

Knomor Garden says: This is a quarter of our veggie garden!! Our veggie garden is 20 rows, 20m long!! To help with maintenance this year I have repurposed some corrugated iron tanks and made raised garden beds. Right now it is abundant with tomatoes, corn, beans, cucumber, zucchini, potatoes, beetroot, Mexican Sour Gherkin, carrots, fennel Strawberries and of course flowers!! We love dahlias!! And borage (or "porridge" as the kids call it) has self seeded. We love spending time as a family in the garden.

Knomor Garden says: This is one of the raised beds installed with the help of our neighbour. We have put livestock mesh for a trellis which has snow peas growing up it. We have just begun harvesting corn. It creates shade for lettuce and basil growing beneath it. Celosia adds colour, as does the flower garden stake made by my brother and his family who gifted it to us. Cattle ear tags make great plant markers!

Leonie (QLD)

Leonie says: The overall style of my garden is a casual mix of Indigenous plants, hardy introduced species combined with productive fruit trees and vegetables. I aim for a loose, lush feel, which is no mean feat considering where I live (1 hr north west of Toowoomba) gets drought & frosts. In this photo we've got Lomandra, Jacaranda, Pepperina, tea tree, dwarf lemon (hiding), and geramium

Leonie says: This area is a bit of a sun trap. I've used plants that don't mind hot, dry environments. Hardy things like lomandra, saltbush, pigface, callistamon, Grevillea, acacia, Leucospermum, succulents, Melaleuca bracteata etc. There are a couple of self seeded eucalypts that are growing up & providing welcome shade. I enjoy seeing how this space changes as plants mature.

Leonie says: This photo shows that no matter how dry it gets out here there is still beauty in abundance. This whole property uses tank water only.

Allawah Cottage (VIC)

Allawah Cottage says: We have created a garden with clean lines, showcasing exotic plants and native plants in separate areas. We have mixed in edible yet ornamental plants such as citrus trees in amongst the exotic plant garden beds. We have built an outdoor cinema at the end of our lawn area. The garden is well lit at night with spot lights. There's always something to enjoy in our garden no matter what season nor what time of a day

Allawah Cottage says: Our new kitchen garden with arches for climbers and fairy lights. We have chosen higher rasied beds to stop our pooches from getting in. They are deterring not only our pooches but also the rats we had a problem with last year so we are very happy about that! 95% of the plants are grown from the great quality seeds from The Seed Collection which are all doing very well. We have planted Lebanese cucumber, Marketmore cucumber and Small Sugar pumpkin on the arches.

Allawah Cottage says: This is our first year growing eggplants and we just can't get over how beautiful eggplants are. They shine like jewells amongst the sea of green, we are so in love with them!