Gardening in Australia: climate, frost dates and crops by region

Climate zones of Australia

By the days between the last spring frost and the first autumn frost.

How the regions of Australia differ

Splitting the cities in two — north (Darwin, Cairns, Townsville and 10 more) and south (Mildura, Wollongong, Adelaide and 10 more): the last spring frost comes about 24 days later in the south; the frost-free season is about 325 days in the north and 303 days in the south; the warmest month averages 30 °C by day in the north and 26.9 °C in the south.

Splitting the cities in two — west (Devonport, Cairns, Melbourne and 10 more) and east (Gold Coast, Brisbane, Toowoomba and 10 more): the last spring frost comes about 34 days later in the east; the frost-free season is about 325 days in the west and 293 days in the east; the warmest month averages 29.8 °C by day in the west and 27.8 °C in the east; the west gets about 728 mm of rain a year and the east about 881 mm.

The gap between the warmest month’s days and the coldest month’s nights is widest in Alice Springs (29.4 °C) and smallest in Darwin (13.3 °C): the smaller it is, the milder both winter and summer. Cairns is the wettest of these cities with 1,889 mm a year, Alice Springs the driest with 269 mm. The hottest summer days are in Alice Springs (36.1 °C on average in the warmest month), the coolest in Hobart (20.5 °C). In none of these cities does a month average below 0 °C at night.

Which crops suit which part of Australia

Season long enough: the days from planting to the first autumn frost cover the days to the first harvest on the plant card. Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

Cities without a spring frost: months that suit each crop

Months whose average day is not above the highest temperature on the plant card and whose average night is not below its lowest.

Cities of Australia: weather in numbers

ERA5 2016–2025 via Open-Meteo, 25 km grid cell of each city; dates by the Greenly calendar and the plant cards.

Australia by region: frost dates and planting windows

Each region’s page sets its cities side by side: frost dates, planting windows and weather by month.

• New South Wales
• Northern Territory
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Victoria
• Western Australia

More about Australia

• Australia: frost dates by city
• Selling your harvest in Australia
• Where to buy seeds and plants
• When to plant tomatoes in Australia
• When to plant cucumbers in Australia
• When to plant peas in Australia
• When to plant garlic in Australia
• Gardening by country