Planting guide

When to plant sage

Soft grey leaves for butter sauces and stuffing; a handsome, drought-tolerant shrub. In Melbourne, sow seeds indoors Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Aug, Sep, Oct and plant out Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov.

Start as: Seeds indoors, 6 wks before planting out
Ready in: 11–14 wks
Spacing: 50 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means sage can be planted out as seedlings that month, ○ means wait. Sow the seeds indoors about 6 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 sage

Plant seedlings in free-draining soil in full sun.
Water only in dry spells.
Pick leaves lightly in the first year.
Trim back after flowering to keep it compact.

Sage varieties

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

Common Sage Classicheirloom · cold-hardy · 11–14 wksGrey-green leaves with a rich, earthy flavour
Broad Leaf Sage Classicheavy-cropper · 11–14 wksBig soft leaves; heavier pickings
Purple Sage Adventurouscolourful · 11–14 wksPurple-grey leaves; as tasty as it is pretty