Planting guide

When to plant lavender

Silver-grey shrubs with scented purple spikes that bees can't resist. In Melbourne, sow seeds indoors Jan, Feb, Mar, Jun, Jul, Aug and plant out Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Sep, Oct.

Start as: Seeds indoors, 10 wks before planting out
Flowers in: 1+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 60 cm
Depth: 0.2 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Colours: purple, blue, white, pink
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means lavender can be planted out as seedlings that month, ○ means wait. Sow the seeds indoors about 10 weeks earlier. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Central Coast	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Geelong	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Hobart	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Townsville	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Mandurah	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Launceston	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Mackay	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Bunbury	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Mildura	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Wellington	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
London	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Toronto	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant lavender

Plant seedlings in full sun and very well drained soil.
Add lime or grit if your soil is acid.
Water until established then leave it dry.
Trim lightly after flowering; never cut into old wood.

Lavender varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Munstead Classicheirloom · 43–57 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection, Seeds of Plenty
True English Classicheirloom · 43–57 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection, Seeds of Plenty
Hidcote Classic43–57 wksPurple flowers, about 50cm tall
Dwarf Monet Classicdwarf · pot-friendly · 43–57 wksMauve flowers, about 50cm tall
Grosso Classic43–57 wksPurple flowers, about 80cm tall