Sowing in April

April is a tricky month for growers in the cool temperate zone. With the sun heading north, daylight continues to shorten—dipping into the Persophone Period (less than 10 hours of light) on 18 May for us Southern Victorian growers - Hobart dips below 10 hours of daylight on 6 May. Even if late autumn brings warmer weather, active growth naturally slows for winter crops.

To produce a dependable harvest through the Persophone period (18 May - 25 July in Southern Victoria), crops need to make sufficient growth in Autumn.

Areas at higher latitudes, maintain over 10 hours of daylight longer.
In Sydney, growers have until early June;
In Brisbane and Perth, the daylight never falls below 10 hours.

With longer daylight, cooler temperatures and drier conditions, many areas of Australia can take advantage of April to sow a wider variety of crops.

To help you plan, we’ve prepared both:

• a one-page “What to Sow in April” guide for COOL TEMPERATE REGIONS;
• and our comprehensive Five Season Sowing Guide for Australia`.

FLOWERS

The cooling of Autumn is perfect for many Cool Season Hardy Annual Flowers.  These can be very easy to grow especially as they love cool, dark, wet conditions to germinate and grow!  Sweet pease, Larkspur, poppies, and many more all are included 

Read More → Cool Season, Hardy Flowers - Sow in Autumn