Planting guide

When to plant rosemary

Woody, resinous sprigs for roast potatoes and lamb; hard to kill once settled. In Melbourne it goes in Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov.

Start as: Potted plant or Seedling
Ready in: 13–26 wks
Spacing: 60 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means rosemary 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 rosemary

Plant a potted rosemary in free-draining, sunny soil.
Water well until settled, then only in long dry spells.
Pick sprigs from the tips and never cut into old bare wood.
Trim lightly after flowering.

Rosemary varieties

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

Upright Rosemary Classiccold-hardy · heat-tolerant · 13–26 wksTall bush for hedging and the kitchen
Prostrate Rosemary Classicpot-friendly · 13–26 wksTrailing habit; lovely over a wall or pot edge
Tuscan Blue Adventurouspot-friendly · colourful · 13–26 wksUpright, strongly flavoured with deep blue flowers