When to plant Parsley in Subtropical Australia

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

Parsley's subtropical window runs from February to May, sown direct 4 mm deep — a late-summer-into-autumn start that sets plants up for the mild dry winter, which is parsley's best season in this climate. Germination is famously slow at 14–28 days, so mark the row and keep it moist rather than assuming failure. Plants take 70–90 days to reach a good picking size, meaning a March sowing in Brisbane is a productive winter herb by June and keeps giving into spring. Being hardy, it shrugs off the light frosts that inland gardens around Lismore occasionally see.

Sowing calendar — subtropical zone

Green months are your sowing window: February to May.

Growing notes

A February sowing on the Gold Coast still has to survive real heat and afternoon storms, so give it broken shade and constant moisture until autumn arrives; April and May sowings have an easier ride but grow more slowly into winter. Either way the payoff is the same — while the summer herbs collapse, parsley produces steadily through the driest, most comfortable months of the subtropical year.

The most common complaint is seed that seems to do nothing. Hold your nerve: 14–28 days is normal, and a bed that dries out in week three loses the crop. Soaking seed overnight before sowing and laying a light mulch over the row until shoots appear both help. Sow into rich, moisture-holding soil with rows 20–30 cm apart, and pick outer stems only so the centre keeps producing.

Parsley is biennial, and plants that survive into their second spring bolt as the weather warms — around the same time rising humidity brings crown rot to tired plants sitting in wet soil. Do not fight either; pull them and start a fresh row each autumn. In frost-free Brisbane gardens a strong plant will often crop for close to a year before it gives up.

Parsley at a glance

Companion planting

Grows well with

Tomatoes: Attracts hoverflies that prey on aphids attacking tomatoes

Asparagus: Traditional pairing; parsley said to repel asparagus beetle

Asparagus: Parsley deters asparagus beetle

Common questions

When do I plant parsley in the subtropics?

Sow direct from February to May. Autumn sowings establish as the humidity fades and crop right through the mild winter, parsley's best season in this zone.

Why hasn't my parsley seed come up?

Parsley is one of the slowest herbs to germinate, taking 14–28 days. Keep the bed continuously moist for the full month, and soak seed overnight before sowing to speed things up.

Does parsley grow through winter in Brisbane?

Yes, winter is when subtropical parsley performs best. It is hardy, so even light inland frosts do not bother it.

Why is my parsley flowering?

Parsley is biennial and bolts in its second spring as the weather warms. Once it flowers the leaves turn coarse, so pull the plant and resow in autumn.

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