Guide

What's in season, month by month

By Annie Cormack, founder of Rosel · Updated 19 October 2026

This page covers which flowers and foliage are grown in Australia in each month, how that shifts between the tropical north, the temperate south, WA and Tasmania, which natives come when, and which stems hold up in heat. It also covers why so many flowers here are imported, how florists substitute, and how to brief a palette rather than a list of blooms. It’s for the two of you whether a florist is doing the flowers or you’re doing them yourselves.

Why the season matters

What’s in season in your wedding week sets which stems can be bought fresh and grown locally. A flower out of season here is either imported or not available at all. Seasonal stems tend to have travelled less, and they’re the ones a grower, a market or a flower farm will actually have in the buckets that week.

The dates below are a guide, not a schedule. A warm spring brings flowers on early, a cold snap holds them back, and the same flower comes into season weeks apart in Brisbane and Hobart.

Month by month (temperate south-east)

This table follows the Sydney and Melbourne seasons, which most Australian florist calendars are written around. Adjust it for your climate with the section after it.

Month	Flowers	Natives and foliage
January	Hydrangeas, dahlias, sunflowers, lisianthus, agapanthus, gardenias, zinnias	Flannel flower, kangaroo paw, gum foliage
February	Hydrangeas, dahlias, zinnias, gerberas, lisianthus	Late kangaroo paw (green and purple varieties), flannel flower, gum foliage
March	Dahlias (at their peak from late summer to mid-autumn), celosia, antique (autumn-coloured) hydrangeas, garden roses	Protea and banksia arrive, leucadendron, gum foliage
April	Dahlias, garden roses, chrysanthemums	Protea, banksia, leucadendron, leucospermum, gum foliage
May	Chrysanthemums, the last dahlias and garden roses	Protea, banksia, leucadendron, gum foliage
June	Tulips, hellebores, cymbidium orchids, early daffodils, camellias	Wax flower begins, protea, banksia, wattle foliage, gum foliage
July	Tulips, hellebores, anemones, cymbidium orchids, camellias	Wax flower, protea, leucadendron, gum foliage
August	Ranunculus, anemones, freesias, sweet peas, tulips, magnolia and early blossom	Wax flower, the first waratahs in warmer areas, gum foliage
September	Tulips, ranunculus, anemones, sweet peas, freesias, stocks, hyacinths, jasmine, lily of the valley (a short window, about late September to mid-October)	Waratah, kangaroo paw, wax flower, flannel flower begins, gum foliage
October	Local peonies begin late in the month, tulips, ranunculus, anemones, sweet peas, lilac, viburnum snowball, roses	Waratah, kangaroo paw, wax flower, flannel flower, gum foliage
November	Peonies (at their peak), roses, delphiniums, early hydrangeas, sweet peas finishing	Kangaroo paw, flannel flower, the last waratahs in cool areas, the last wax flower, gum foliage
December	Hydrangeas, lisianthus, agapanthus, early dahlias, the last local peonies (into mid-December)	NSW Christmas bush, kangaroo paw, flannel flower, gum foliage

In short: spring brings tulips, ranunculus, sweet peas, waratahs and, from late October, local peonies; summer brings hydrangeas, sunflowers, lisianthus and dahlias; autumn brings dahlias, garden roses, chrysanthemums and banksias; winter brings anemones, hellebores, camellias, cymbidium orchids and the first tulips. Some Melbourne florists list local tulips from as early as April, so the tulip window varies by grower.

Some stems are on the shelves most of the year, because they’re grown under cover or imported: roses, chrysanthemums, lisianthus and many orchids among them. Seeing one in a shop in any month doesn’t mean it was grown here that month. Peonies on sale in May or June, for example, are imported.

How it shifts by climate

Tropical north (Darwin, Cairns, far north Queensland). The seasons are wet (about November to April) and dry (about May to October), not the southern four. The dry season is the main wedding window in Darwin. Tropical orchids are grown locally all year in Cairns, heliconias and ginger flowers are available most of the year (some heliconias flower all year), and frangipanis flower from about October or November to March. Darwin florists also work with local lotus and anthuriums. Cool-climate flowers such as peonies, tulips, ranunculus and sweet peas are brought in from the south or from overseas.

Subtropical (Brisbane, south-east Queensland, northern NSW). Close to the Sydney calendar, but warmer. Cool-season flowers can come earlier: Gold Coast florists list ranunculus from about May to October, best in July to September. Summers are hot and humid, which suits orchids, anthuriums, heliconias and frangipanis, and winters are mild enough for proteas and wattle.

Temperate south-east (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide). The table above. Florist calendars in these cities overlap closely; local peonies, for example, run from about late October to early December in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Western Australia. WA’s wildflower season runs from about August to November, peaking around Perth in September and later (into October and November) in the South West. Kangaroo paw (the state’s floral emblem) is at its peak around Perth in September, and Geraldton wax flowers from about June or July to November. Most of Australia’s banksia species are native to WA, and several are grown and harvested for cut flowers. All native WA flora is protected, and taking it from Crown land for commercial use needs a licence.

Tasmania. Cool growing conditions and strong light give Tasmanian flowers a name for depth of colour and long vase life. The peony season is short and late: growers’ picking seasons run from about mid-November to mid-December. The tulip fields flower from about late September to the end of October. Tasmanian peony growers fly flowers to mainland capitals, so Tasmanian peonies can extend the peony window for a late-spring wedding elsewhere.

Natives by season

Native	Main season	Notes
Waratah	About September to November; some cultivated stems from late August	Flowers for about six weeks in September and October in the Sydney region, later (October and November) in cooler areas such as the Blue Mountains. Long-lasting, on long straight woody stems. In NSW, picking waratahs in the wild is illegal; cut waratahs come from licensed growers
Banksia	Mostly autumn and winter, varying by species; some all year	Long vase life, and dries well
Protea	Autumn to spring, many peaking in winter	Long-lasting, in pinks, pinky oranges, lime and white
Leucadendron	Late summer to spring, varying by variety	Long-lasting; the colour is in the bracts (coloured leaves around the flower)
Kangaroo paw	Late winter to summer, peaking in spring; some varieties all year	Vase life of about one to two weeks
Flannel flower	Spring and summer, peaking September to November	A NSW native, soft grey-white
Wax flower (Geraldton wax)	About June to November	Small waxy flowers, sweetly scented; a WA native
NSW Christmas bush	December	The red is the enlarged sepals (the calyx) that follow the small white flowers, not the petals
Gum (eucalyptus) foliage	All year	Silver dollar, baby blue and seeded gum are the florist staples

Woody native stems (banksia, protea, waratah) drink better through a fresh angled cut split a couple of centimetres up from the base. Splitting cleanly works better than crushing, which damages the stem.

Flowers that hold up in heat

On a hot day outdoors, how long a stem lasts out of water matters more than how long it lasts in a vase.

Tend to hold up: anthuriums, orchids, heliconias and ginger flowers, zinnias, sunflowers, celosia, chrysanthemums and dahlias, and natives such as protea, banksia, kangaroo paw, wax flower, leucadendron and gum foliage. Strawflower (everlasting daisy) is heat-loving and dries well.

Tend to wilt fast: hydrangeas (very thirsty, they droop quickly once out of water), sweet peas (a cool-weather flower and among the most fragile), ranunculus, peonies, gardenias, garden roses and delphiniums.

A soft flower can still be used on a hot day: individual water tubes hidden in a bouquet keep thirsty stems drinking, pieces can go out as late as possible, and heat-tolerant stems can carry most of the arrangement. Give someone the job of keeping pieces in water and shade until they’re needed, and of moving them out at the last moment.

Imported and local

Flower Industry Australia, the industry’s peak body, estimates about half the flowers sold in Australia are imported, including most of those sold in supermarkets. The share is higher in winter, when local supply is light; one Sydney florist put it as high as nine in ten. Imports come mainly from Kenya, Ecuador, Colombia, China and Malaysia. Most imported roses come from Kenya, Colombia and Ecuador; orchids come from South-East Asia, and chrysanthemums from Malaysia among other places.

Why it matters:

No label is required. Flower Industry Australia says cut flowers are the only perishable product sold in Australia that doesn’t need a country-of-origin label. Growers have pushed for one for about two decades, and as of early 2026 the federal government has not taken it up. In the meantime, Flower Industry Australia sells green and gold “Australian grown” bands that growers and florists can put on local bunches. They’re voluntary, so a bunch without one isn’t necessarily imported. Without a band, the only way to know is to ask.
Treatment. Before export, imported flowers must go through an approved pest-management option: a systems approach in the growing country, fumigation with methyl bromide, or another approved treatment. They’re inspected again at the Australian border. Some species must also be devitalised before they leave the country of origin, usually by dipping in glyphosate, so the stems can’t be propagated here. None of this has to be disclosed to the buyer.
Distance and time. Imported stems are air-freighted, and spend days between cutting and the vase.
Season. Imports are why a flower can appear out of its season here. If a flower in your pictures is out of season in your month, it’s likely imported or unavailable.

What to ask: where the flowers were grown, and whether the local version is in season for your date. A florist can tell you what they buy local and what they import. If you’re buying yourselves, growers, flower farms and the public sessions at the Sydney and Brisbane flower markets are where local stems are easiest to find.

How florists substitute

Flowers are a crop. Weather, pests, a short season or a held-up shipment can mean a stem in the plan isn’t available in the week. Most Australian florists’ terms include a substitution clause: if a flower isn’t available, they use one of similar shape, colour, size and value, keeping the palette and style of the design.

Things to agree with a florist:

How much room they have to substitute, and whether there are any flowers you’d want them to ask about first.
Which flowers carry the look and which are interchangeable.
What the backup is for any flower with a short window, such as peonies or waratahs.

If you’re doing the flowers yourselves, the same thinking applies at the market: go with a palette and a few shapes in mind, and buy what’s best on the day.

Describe a palette, not fixed blooms

A palette holds up better than a list of named flowers, because the season sets the stems but not the colours. A brief that says “soft apricot, cream and dusty pink, with silver-grey foliage, loose and garden-like” can be met in March or September. A brief that names specific blooms can only be met in their season.

A useful palette brief covers:

Colours, three to five, with the main one first, and anything to leave out.
Foliage, since it’s a large share of most arrangements and changes the feel: silver gum, glossy green, soft grey, dark.
Shape and texture: round and full, airy and loose, sculptural, wild.
One or two key flowers, if there are any you’d like most, and what you’d accept in their place.
Pictures, labelled with what you like in each (the colour, the shape, the size), so a picture of an out-of-season flower still tells the florist something usable.