Planting guide

When to plant marigold

Cheerful orange and gold blooms that sit beside tomatoes and keep hoverflies coming. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Jan.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Flowers in: 7–10 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Colours: orange, yellow, red, bicolour
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means marigold can go in that month, ○ means wait. 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 marigold

Sow after frost or buy seedlings in spring.
Plant 20cm apart among tomatoes, capsicums and beans.
Water at the base and pinch off spent flowers.
Leave a few heads to dry for free seed.

Marigold varieties

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

Sparky Mix Classicheirloom · mixed · 7–10 wksMixed colours
Crackerjack Classicheirloom · 7–10 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection, Seeds of Plenty
Bolero Classic7–10 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection
Bonita Mixed Classicmixed · 7–10 wksMixed colours
Calando Mix Classicmixed · 7–10 wksMixed colours
Fiesta Classic7–10 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection