Planting guide

When to plant zinnia

Brilliant, long-lasting blooms in almost every colour; a heat lover and a pollinator favourite. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Dec.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Flowers in: 8–11 wks
Spacing: 30 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Colours: red, orange, yellow, pink, purple, white, green, multi
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means zinnia 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 zinnia

Sow 1cm deep in warm soil once frost has passed.
Thin to 30cm and keep foliage dry when watering.
Pinch out the growing tip for bushier plants.
Cut often to keep flowers coming.

Zinnia varieties

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

Envy Classic9–11 wksLime flowers, about 75cm tall
Isabellina Classic15–17 wksSold by Diggers, Happy Valley, The Seed Collection
Lilliput Mix Classicdwarf · mixed · pot-friendly · 8–11 wksMixed colours
Purple Prince Classic15–17 wksPurple flowers, about 50cm tall
Burpeeana Mixed Classicmixed · 8–11 wksMixed colours
California Giants Classictall · 15–17 wksSold by Diggers, Seeds of Plenty