Planting guide

When to plant thyme

Tiny aromatic leaves for roasts and stews; a tough, drought-happy perennial. In Melbourne, sow seeds indoors Feb, Mar, Apr, Aug, Sep, Oct and plant out Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov.

Start as: Seeds indoors, 6 wks before planting out
Ready in: 10–14 wks
Spacing: 25 cm
Depth: 0.2 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means thyme 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 thyme

Plant seedlings in free-draining soil; press seed onto the surface.
Water only when the soil is dry.
Pick sprigs often and trim after flowering.
Replace woody plants every 3 to 4 years.

Thyme varieties

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

English Thyme Classiccold-hardy · pot-friendly · 10–14 wksThe classic cooking thyme with a rich flavour
French Thyme Classicpot-friendly · 10–14 wksNarrow grey-green leaves, great for roasts
Lemon Thyme Adventurouspot-friendly · mild · 10–14 wksCitrus-scented leaves for fish and chicken