When to plant Lovage in Subtropical Australia

Subtropical zone — applies to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Coffs Harbour, Lismore and similar areas. Growing elsewhere? Temperate · Cool · Tropical · Arid.

Lovage is not recommended for subtropical gardens, and there is no reliable sowing window here. This hardy perennial herb is built for cold-winter climates, where it dies back and rests over a genuine frost before returning each spring. In the mild, humid subtropics of Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Lismore, it gets no proper dormancy and sulks through the muggy summers. If you want to try it anyway, treat it as a short-lived experiment in your coolest, most sheltered spot: sow 6 mm deep, allow 10–20 days to germinate and 90–120 days to a usable clump, spacing plants a generous 100 cm apart. Most subtropical growers will do better with a heat-tolerant substitute.

Sowing calendar — subtropical zone

No sowing window in this zone.

Growing notes

The problem with lovage in the subtropics is climate mismatch rather than any trick of technique. It is a cool-temperate perennial that expects cold winters to rest and moist, mild summers to grow. The subtropical calendar gives it the opposite: warm, humid summers that push soft, disease-prone growth, and winters too mild to trigger real dormancy. Plants tend to bolt, thin out and succumb to fungal rots in the wet season.

If you are set on growing it around Coffs Harbour or the hinterland where it is slightly cooler, give it the best conditions you can. Plant into rich, moisture-retentive but free-draining soil in a spot with morning sun and afternoon shade. Water at the base, mulch to keep the roots cool, and thin the clump to keep air moving through the leaves and reduce the leaf spot and rot that humidity encourages. Expect it to be short-lived rather than a decades-long perennial.

A more dependable path is to grow lovage's flavour from a substitute: celery leaf or leaf celery gives a similar savoury, celery-like note and copes far better with subtropical heat and humidity.

Lovage at a glance

Common questions

can you grow lovage in Brisbane

Not reliably. Lovage needs cold winters to rest and mild summers to grow, and Brisbane's warm, humid conditions give it neither. Plants tend to bolt, thin out and rot rather than settling in as a long-lived perennial.

what can I grow instead of lovage in the subtropics

Leaf celery or celery leaf gives a very similar savoury, celery-like flavour and handles subtropical heat and humidity far better. Parsley is another dependable, heat-tolerant stand-in for cooking.

why does my lovage keep dying in a humid climate

Warm, wet summers push soft growth that is prone to fungal leaf spot and crown rot, and mild winters never give the plant the dormancy it needs. Better drainage, afternoon shade and base watering help, but it usually remains short-lived.

does lovage need frost to grow well

It does best with a genuine cold winter that lets it die back and rest. Without that chill, as in the subtropics, it never gets a proper dormant season and tends to decline within a year or two.

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