Planting guide

When to plant sorrel

Lemony leaves for soups, sauces and salads; a tough perennial in the cool months. In Melbourne it goes in Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 6–9 wks
Spacing: 30 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means sorrel 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 sorrel

Sow seed 0.5 cm deep, or plant seedlings.
Keep moist; light shade suits it in summer.
Pick young leaves; older ones turn bitter.
Cut off flower stalks to keep the leaves coming.

Sorrel varieties

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

French Sorrel Classicheirloom · cold-hardy · mild · 6–9 wksMild, lemony shield-shaped leaves
Broad Leaf Sorrel Classicheavy-cropper · 6–9 wksLarge leaves, a good yielder for soups
Red Veined Sorrel Adventurouscolourful · 6–9 wksGreen leaves with red veins; pretty in salads

Where to buy seeds

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

Sorrel by month

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

More to plant

Basil · Thai Basil · Parsley · Coriander · Dill · Chives

Not sure sorrel 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