Planting guide

When to plant salsify

Long, tapering roots with a mild oyster-like flavour; slow but undemanding. In Melbourne it goes in All year.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 17–21 wks
Spacing: 10 cm
Depth: 1.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means salsify can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's real monthly temperatures, not a zone map. 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 salsify

Sow fresh seed 1.5 cm deep in deep, stone-free soil.
Thin to 10 cm.
Keep weed-free.
Lift after the first frost.

Salsify varieties

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

Mammoth Sandwich IslandClassicheirloom · 17–21 wksOyster-flavoured long roots
Black SalsifyClassiccolourful · 17–21 wksBlack-skinned roots, mild

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Lettuce, Carrot, Radish

Salsify by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Potato · Carrot · Beetroot · Radish · Turnip · Parsnip

Not sure salsify is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now →