Planting guide

When to plant parsley

The all-purpose cooking herb; slow to start, then picks for months. In Melbourne it goes in Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 10–13 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means parsley 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 parsley

Sow seed 0.5 cm deep; it can take 3 to 5 weeks to come up.
Soak seed overnight in warm water to speed it up.
Keep the soil evenly moist.
Pick outer stems first and leave the centre to keep growing.

Parsley varieties

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

Italian Flat Leaf Classicheirloom · pot-friendly · 10–13 wksStrongly flavoured flat leaves, the cook's favourite
Curly Moss Classicheirloom · pot-friendly · 10–13 wksFrilly leaves for garnish; tidy in a pot
Hamburg Root Adventurousheirloom · storage · 13–17 wksGrown for its parsnip-like root as well as the leaves