Planting guide

When to plant stock

Clove-scented columns of flowers for winter and spring gardens and vases. In Melbourne it goes in Feb–Jun.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Flowers in: 11–16 wks
Spacing: 25 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Colours: pink, purple, white, red, yellow, blue, multi
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means stock 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 stock

Sow seed in trays in late summer or autumn.
Plant out when seedlings have four leaves.
Keep soil limed and well drained.
Cut spikes when half the flowers are open.

Stock varieties

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

Evening Scented Classicfragrant · 11–16 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection, Seeds of Plenty
Giant Imperial Mixed Classicmixed · tall · 11–16 wksMixed colours
Virginian Mixed Classicmixed · 11–16 wksMixed colours
Column Illusion Red Classic11–16 wksRed flowers
Dwarf Ten Week Mixed Classicdwarf · mixed · pot-friendly · 11–16 wksMixed colours

Where to buy seeds

Buy on Happy Valley Seeds Buy on The Seed Collection Buy on Seeds of Plenty

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

Stock by month

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

More to plant

Sweet pea · Snapdragon · Larkspur · Dahlia · Gladiolus · Ranunculus

Not sure stock 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