Planting guide

When to plant sunflower

Big, bold, easy blooms from dwarf pot types to giants taller than the fence. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Dec.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Flowers in: 6–13 wks
Spacing: 30 cm
Depth: 2.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Colours: yellow, orange, red, bicolour
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means sunflower 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 sunflower

Sow seed 2.5cm deep in warm soil after frost.
Sow a few every fortnight for a long season.
Stake tall types and water deeply in dry spells.
Leave heads on to feed birds or save seed.

Sunflower varieties

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

Teddy Bear Classic6–8 wksYellow flowers, about 50cm tall
Double Dazzler Classicdouble · hybrid · 11–13 wksYellow flowers
Evening Sun Classic11–13 wksOrange flowers
Giant Russian Classicheirloom · tall · 11–13 wksYellow flowers
Classic Gold Classichybrid · 9–13 wksYellow flowers
Compact Sonnet Classicdwarf · hybrid · pot-friendly · 9–13 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection