What to plant in Cool Climates during October
Sugar Snap Bon Pea are a popular, high-yielding variety that produces crisp, sweet, stringless pods. Sugar Snap Bon Pea plants can grow up to 50cm tall and produce pods of around 8cm long. Sugar Snap Bon Peas are low maintenance and are resistant to powdery mildew. This is a climbing variety of pea that will require staking or a trellis for support.
Novella Pea is a 'leafless' shelling pea variety. Novella Pea grows as a bush reaching 75cm in height that does not produce as many leaves as other pea varieties. Instead, the Novella Pea produces tendrils that web together to provide support for the plant. Novella Pea is a yielding variety that produces all season long. Novella Peas are sweet, tender, and juicy.
Italian Parsley is biennial herb that grows large, flat leaves which are full of flavour. Italian Parsley has a stronger flavour than curled varieties. Italian Parsley is a great source of vitamins and minerals. This variety of parsley is fast growing and is great for planting in pots, containers, or grow bags.
Vulgare Oregano is an evergreen, perennial herb that packs a full-on flavour. Oregano is popular in Italian and Mexican cuisine and can be used fresh or dried. Vulgare Oregano will grow to 15cm tall and around 60cm in diameter. Vulgare Oregano plants are drought tolerant and can withstand poor soil quality (but make sure your soil is living and healthy to grow the best crop). We recommend using a 5 to 10 gallon grow bag as a 'forever pot' — this will give your Oregano enough space to spread.
Sakata Sweet Melon is a unique Japanese variety of melon with edible skins. Sakata Sweet Melon is a vining plant that produces small round fruit, approximately 7 to 10cm in diameter. Sakata Sweet Melons are crunchy, juicy, and high in natural sugars. Harvest your Sakata Sweet Melons when the fruit skin starts to turn from pale green to yellow, and the leaves of the vine start to die off. Ensure that your melons are cut from the vine, as if the stalk breaks at the joint of the melon, the flesh could become exposed and your melon can start to rot.
This Honey Dew Melon variety produces fruit with a thick, lime-green flesh. Fruit can grow up to 20cm round or 2.5kg in weight. The fruit rind is thin, smooth, and pale in appearance. Honey Dew Melon is a vining plant, so make sure to allow this variety plenty of room in your garden. Once harvested, Honey Dew Melon fruit can be stored for several months.
Cracker Marigolds are a hardy, compact bush-type flower that can grow to 90cm tall. The flowerheads are orange, yellow, and gold, and are often produced in double-blooms. Crackerjack Marigolds are a fast growing annual that flowers the same year as it is planted. Marigolds are great for boarders and companion planting. Marigolds are great for keep detrimental insects out of your garden.
Romanian Red Cos Lettuce is a bi-colour variety which has deep-red and vibrant green leaves that grow vertically to form a loose head. Romanian Red Cos is slow bolting and can handle warmer climates, so it is a great lettuce variety to add to your garden for the summer. The outside lettuce leaves can be harvested as required during the growing season and this will also encourage more plant growth. Romanian Red Cost Lettuce prefers rich well-draining soil and a sunny spot in your garden (but it can tolerate partial shade). Romanian Red Cos Lettuce may require protection from the sun during the extreme heats of summer. Protect your lettuce from pests like snails, slugs, and aphids.
Grow your own 'iceburg' lettuce! Great Lakes Lettuce is your common, drum-head lettuce with crisp, slightly crinkled leaves. Great Lakes Lettuce is easy to grow, slow bolting, and can handle a partially shady spot in your garden. While Great Lakes Lettuce dislikes extreme heats, this variety can handle hot conditions better than other lettuce varieties — so it will be a great addition to your garden in the summertime! This lettuce variety can grow well in a variety of different soils, but it will need to be protected from pests like snails, slugs, and aphids.
Vera Lavender is an evergreen, hardy perennial that grows as a compact bush reaching 30 to 50cm in height. Vera Lavender flowers are violet-blue and aromatic. The lavender flower heads are generally cut and dried for their fragrance, used in cooking, or grown for its medicinal properties. Vera Lavender is also great for adding a pop of colour to your garden and attracting beneficial insects.
Golden Zucchini is easy and fast to grow, and will produce an abundance of fruit throughout the growing season! Golden Zucchini still boasts that bold zucchini flavour but with a vibrant yellow-gold skin. Golden Zucchini is best to harvest when the fruit grows to around 15cm and skin is still soft. Remember to keep picking your zucchini fruit throughout the growing season to stimulate further production.
Black Beauty Zucchini grows as a compact, upright plant that is high-yielding throughout the summer. Black Beauty Zucchini is fast and easy to grow. This variety of zucchini produces cylindrical deep-green fruit with a thin skin and white creamy flesh. Black Beauty Zucchini is best to harvest when the fruit grows to around 15cm and skin is still soft. Remember to continually pick your zucchini fruit throughout the growing season to stimulate further production.
Our Elegans Formula Zinnia seeds are a mixture of 17 different colours. Elegans Formula Zinnias are an easy to grow annual that produces double flowers in bold, bright colours. The stems of the plant are sturdy and can grow to 90cm high. Elegans Formula Zinnias are great to use for cut flowers, to add a pop of colour to your garden, or to attract beneficial insects! Elegans Formula Zinnias are perfect for growing in pots, containers, or grow bags.
Sugar Baby Watermelon is a summer vining variety that produces fruits up to 20cm in diameter or 5kg in weight! Sugar Baby Watermelon has a thin, deep-green skin and a sweet, vibrant-red flesh. The fruit of the Sugar Baby Watermelon plant is smaller than other watermelon varieties. This means that the fruit will ripen sooner, making it an early-maturing plant (compared to other watermelon varieties). This variety of watermelon also has minimal seeds. Harvest your watermelons when the stem starts to turn brown and die off. Sugar Baby Watermelons grow best when they are planted in a sunny spot.
Yellow Cherry Honey Bee Tomatoes are a compact, 'bush-style' tomato plant that produces large clusters of fruit. Yellow Cherry Honey Bee Tomato plants produce vibrant yellow tomatoes that are 2 to 3cm in diameter. This is an early-maturing and very high-yielding tomato variety. Yellow Cherry Honey Bee Tomato plants are easy to grow, disease resistant, and perfect to grow in pots or containers.
Yellow Cherry Honey Bee is a semi-determinate variety. This means that your Yellow Cherry Honey Bee Tomato plant may not require as much support as an indeterminate variety, but will still produce throughout the growing season.
Rouge De Marmande Tomato plants produce clusters of large, vibrant-red, ribbed fruit that can grow up to 9cm in diameter. Rouge De Marmande Tomatoes are early-maturing and high-yielding. This variety of tomato also boasts good disease and pest resistance. Pick your Rouge De Marmande Tomatoes when they turn ripe throughout the growing season to encourage more plant growth.
Rouge De Marmande Tomato is an indeterminate variety. Ensure you have a cage, trellis, or stake to support your Rouge De Marmande Tomato plant.
Grosse Lisse Tomato plants produce large, smooth, red-skinned fruit. This variety of tomato is similar to the common store-bought tomatoes but Grosse Lisse Tomatoes are juicey and packed full of flavour. Grosse Lisse Tomato plants are sturdy and vigorous fruiters. Interplant your Grosse Lisse Tomatoes with marigolds and herbs for natural pest deterrents.
Grosse Lisse Tomato is an indeterminate variety. Grosse Lisse Tomato fruit can become large and very heavy. Ensure you have a cage, trellis, or stake to support your Grosse Lisse Tomato plant.
This mix contains popular cherry tomato seeds, including red, black, pink, yellow, and white fruiting varieties.
Do you ever look at all the different varieties of tomatoes and simply can't decide which one to choose for your garden? Leave the decision up to chance! Our Cherry Tomato Mix seeds are the perfect solution if you want to try a range of tomatoes without buying hundreds of tomato seeds. Our Cherry Tomato Mix will give you variety in your garden and on your plate.
The varieties in our Cherry Tomato Mix are indeterminate. This means that your tomato plants will require support with a trellis, cage, or stake. This also means that your tomatoes won't ripen all at once! Pick your tomatoes as they ripen throughout the growing season to encourage further plant growth.
Black Cherry Tomato plants are a climbing variety that produce trusses of deep purple-black small tomatoes. Ensure you have a trellis or stake to support your Black Cherry Tomato plant. The fruit of a Black Cherry Tomato plant tastes similar to Beefsteak Tomatoes. They are sweet and juicy, low in acidity, and have a slightly smokey aftertaste. Black Cherry Tomatoes are high-yielding and disease resistant. Make sure your Black Cherry Tomato plant is in a sunny spot in your garden.
Black Cherry Tomato is an indeterminate variety.
Summer Thyme, also known as "Garden Thyme" and "Common Thyme", is an evergreen perennial herb that produces grey-green, narrow leaves with a distinct aroma and flavour. Summer Thyme can grow to around 30cm tall and tends to 'bush out'. As the stems age they become 'woody'. Woody thyme is perfectly fine to eat, but it is best to trim these stems away to stimulate new plant growth. The leaves are generally stripped away from the stem and used as flavouring. The leaves hold an earthy, slightly sweet, floral taste and are great for flavouring soups, stews, potatoes, and tomato-based dishes. Summer Thyme is great for growing in pots, grow bags, and containers.
Swiss Chard, known more commonly as 'Silverbeet', is a green, leafy vegetable with edible stalks (like celery) and leaves (like spinach). Rainbow Swiss Chard is a mixture of red, green, pink, and yellow swiss chard varieties. This variety of swiss chard is likely to reach around 60cm in height. Because Rainbow Swiss Chard grows vertically, this vegetable is great for growing in pots and containers. The stand-out hues in Rainbow Swiss Chard are sure to brighten up your garden and would be great to get kids interested in gardening (and in vegetables too!).
Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard, known more commonly as 'Silverbeet', is a green, leafy vegetable that can reach 70cm in height. Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard grows vertical white stalks that house tender green leaves. Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard is faster growing than other similar varieties. This variety of chard is frost tolerant and resistant to bolts. Treat your swiss chard leaves like you would other leafy vegetables, and don't forget the white stalk can be eaten like celery!
Giant Single Sunflowers are a yellow-centred, yellow-petal flower that can grow up to 1.5 to 2 metres tall. Giant Single Sunflower plants produce one, large, golden, impressive flowerhead. These plants are hardy, drought-tolerant and fast growing. This variety of sunflower also boasts a strong rust resistance. Giant Single Sunflowers are great for attracting beneficial insects to your garden.
Scallop Yellow Squash, otherwise known as Summer Squash or Patty Pan Squash, is a bush squash that produces bright yellow disc-shaped fruit with scalloped edges. Scallop Yellow Squash is fast-growing, high-yielding, and compact enough to be grown in a pot or container. Scallop Yellow Squash can be picked when young, and frequent harvesting will encourage more plant growth.
Grow your own baby spinach! This variety of spinach is best for baby leaf production. This means you don't need to wait for your spinach to reach full maturity before your first harvest. Pick your spinach leaves as you need them. Baby spinach leaves can be picked as early as 3 to 4 weeks in. This variety of spinach can also be grown as a microgreen.
Oregon Sugar Pod Snow Pea plants are a dwarf variety of pea that grows up to 90cm tall. Oregon Sugar Pod Snow Pea plants are high-yielding, low maintenance and resistant to powdery mildew. This variety of snow pea produces pods that can grow up to 10cm in length. Pods are sweet, crisp, and high in vitamins A, B and C. Oregon Sugar Pod Snow Pea plants can be staked or left to grow horizontally across your garden.
White Icicle Radish forms a carrot-shaped edible root that is snow white and mild in flavour. White Icicle Radishes can grow up to 15cm long, are crisp in texture and have a thin skin. This variety of radish is fast growing, early maturing and can handle being planted in an area that only gets partial sun.
Queensland Blue Pumpkin produces medium to large fruits up to 5kg in weight that store extremely well. Queensland Blue Pumpkins have thick, grey-blue ribbed skin and bright orange flesh. Queensland Blue Pumpkin is sweet, firm, and drier than some other pumpkin varieties. Harvest your pumpkin when the vine turns brown and hardens. Ensure that pumpkins are cut from the vine, as if the stalk breaks at the joint of the pumpkin, the flesh could become exposed and your pumpkin can turn bad.
French Breakfast Radish produce cylindrical edible roots that grow to around 5cm long. Radishes have a deep pink and white skin and white flesh, with large leafy green tops growing 15cm tall. French Breakfast Radishes have a crisp texture but are relatively mild in flavour. This variety of radish is fast growing, early maturing and can handle being planted in an area that only gets sun for half of the day.
Our Nana Compacta Petunia seeds produce a mixture of purple, pink, and white hued flowerheads. Nana Compacta Petunias are a dwarf, multiflora variety that produces smaller but prolific blooms. These flowers are perfect for bordering, companion planting and simply adding colour to your garden. Nana Compacta Petunias are great for pots, containers, grow bags, and (our favourite) hanging baskets!