Planting guide

When to plant broad bean

Tough, frost-hardy beans for cool-season beds that enrich the soil. In Melbourne it goes in Mar–Aug.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 16–26 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means broad bean can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Central Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Geelong	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Hobart	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Townsville	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Mandurah	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Launceston	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Mackay	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Bunbury	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Mildura	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
London	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Manchester	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Dublin	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
New York City	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Los Angeles	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Chicago	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Seattle	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Austin	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Toronto	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Berlin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○

How to plant broad bean

Sow seed 5 cm deep in autumn or early spring.
Stake plants once they pass knee height.
Pinch out the tips once pods set.
Pick young pods for the sweetest beans.

Broad Bean varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Aquadulce Classiccold-hardy · heirloom · 20–24 wksHardy autumn-sown broad bean with long pods
Coles Dwarf Classicdwarf · pot-friendly · 16–20 wksShort plants for pots; no staking needed
Early Long Pod Classicfast · 17–21 wksEarly variety with long pods and many beans
Crimson Flowered Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 19–23 wksRare red-flowered broad bean; pretty and tasty
Aprovecho Adventurousheirloom · heavy-cropper · 19–23 wksPale-green, buttery seeds; heavy cropper

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Potato, Carrot, Lettuce

Broad Bean by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Dwarf Green Bean · Climbing Bean · Edamame · Pea · Peanut · Shelling bean

Not sure broad bean is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now