Where to see wildflowers growing naturally in Australia
Australia does not have a wildflower season so much as a wildflower wave. It begins in the Pilbara around June, moves south through Western Australia across winter and reaches the alpine country of the south-east in late spring and early summer. By the time Tasmania's high plateaus are flowering, the north has finished.
A remote wildflower display in full bloom. The best of these are a long way from anywhere, and worth the drive.
Why the flowering moves
The wave is really the growing season itself travelling south. Across the southern half of the country, most wildflowers grow through the wet winter months and flower as the weather warms, before the soil dries out for summer. Because the north warms earlier than the south, that window opens sooner.
Pink paper daisy (Rhodanthe chlorocephala subsp. rosea), an annual that germinates on winter rain and flowers as the weather warms.
Three factors set the timing
- Rising temperature is the trigger that tips plants from growing into flowering.
- Winter rainfall determines whether there is a display at all, since annual wildflowers need enough moisture to germinate and grow before they can flower.
- Lengthening days provide a reliable signal of the season that does not vary with the weather.
the exceptions
Two parts of the country sit outside the pattern entirely. The arid interior has no dependable seasonal rain, so its plants do not track a season at all. Many desert annuals instead wait in the soil as seed and germinate within days of significant rainfall whenever it falls.
Desert species flower on rainfall rather than season, and many wait in the soil as seed until it comes.
The tropical north runs on the monsoon, with a wet and dry cycle that has no relationship to southern spring.
A note on timing
The months given here are a general guide only. Before travelling, check with the relevant national park service or visitor centre for current conditions, as they track what is flowering and where.
Grow Your Own Wildflowers
Native seed bombs for an easy start.
Western Australia
Western Australia holds the largest wildflower collection on earth, with roughly 12,000 species and around 60% of them endemic. The scale is genuinely difficult to convey until you have stood in it and many of the most striking species are available to grow at home.
Western Australia holds around 12,000 wildflower species, roughly 60% of which occur nowhere else on earth.
The season runs for around six months. It starts in the Pilbara and the north west around June and July as temperatures begin to rise, sweeps south through the Mid West and Coral Coast across August and September, and reaches Perth and the south west by September and October. This means a road trip timed north to south can follow the flowering for weeks.
Where to go
The Coral Coast and Mid West carry the classic everlasting displays, with Coalseam Conservation Park the most reliable and expansive of them, reached by road from Mingenew and Mullewa. Kalbarri National Park is a strong choice further north, with the wildflowers set against the gorge country. Lesueur National Park, north of Perth, is one of the state's most botanically significant reserves.
Blue tinsel lily (Calectasia cyanea) in Lesueur National Park.
Calistemon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Stirling Range, rising from the coastal plain in the south, holds species found nowhere else including a remarkable orchid diversity. For those without time to travel, Kings Park in Perth holds over 3,000 native species and is the easiest introduction to the state's flora there is.
Kings Park in Perth has exceptional wildflower displays.
Why Western Australia has so many
The south west of Western Australia is one of only a handful of internationally recognised biodiversity hotspots located in a developed country. Its soils are ancient, deeply weathered and extremely low in phosphorus, and the landscape has been geologically stable and free of glaciation for an exceptionally long time. That combination allowed plant lineages to persist and specialise into very narrow niches over millions of years, rather than being repeatedly wiped out and recolonised as happened across much of the northern hemisphere. It is the reason so many species occur in one small corner of the continent and nowhere else on earth.
South Australia
South Australia's displays are shaped by the same winter rainfall that drives the WA season, and the state's range of habitats means quite different flowering in each. After a wet winter the Flinders Ranges, around four and a half hours north of Adelaide, produce dramatic displays across the ranges and along the roadsides, with Wilpena Pound and the Mount Remarkable area both worth the drive.
A donkey orchid (Diuris), one of the terrestrial orchid groups found through the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula in spring.
Closer to Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula carry orchids and smaller woodland species through spring, and the Eyre Peninsula holds coastal heath displays. The Arid Lands Botanic Garden at Port Augusta is a useful stop for understanding dry country flora before heading further north.
Victoria
Victoria packs a remarkable range of flowering habitats into a small state. The Grampians hold roughly a third of Victoria's entire flora, and spring brings common heath, the state floral emblem, along with boronias, orchids and blue pincushions across the sandstone country. The traditional owners of the region mark this period as Petyan, the season of wildflowers, running roughly August to November.
Victoria's habitats range from mallee to alpine, and each carries a quite different flowering season.
In the north west, Murray-Sunset and the mallee parks flower from early September into October. The alpine country runs on a different clock: the Bogong High Plains and the alpine parks carry daisies, everlastings and alpine peas through summer rather than spring, so a December visit to the high country makes sense where a September one would not.
New South Wales
New South Wales offers the widest habitat spread of any eastern state. The coastal heath country north of Sydney is the most accessible: Brisbane Water National Park carries boronias, flannel flowers and grevilleas through spring, and Myall Lakes further north is known for Christmas bells and flannel flowers. Crowdy Bay, near Port Macquarie, is another coastal option with less traffic.
Flannel flower (Actinotus helianthi), a signature of the coastal heath and sandstone country around Sydney.
The sandstone country of the Blue Mountains flowers through spring across an enormous species range. Kosciuszko National Park works on the alpine timetable, with the display arriving once the snow has gone, generally from December into January rather than spring proper, and the Kosciuszko Summit Walk and the Alpine Way both give access. In the far west, Toorale and the outback parks flower opportunistically after rain rather than on any fixed schedule.
Carrot Tops (Platysace linearifolia) in Blue Mountains National Park, Blackheath NSW Australia.
John Tann from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Queensland
Queensland's wildflower story is really two stories. The southern granite belt follows a recognisable spring pattern, and Girraween National Park is the standout, where displays of trigger plants, billy buttons and native bluebells appear among the granite boulders each spring. The Stanthorpe area around it is the state's most reliable wildflower country.
Queensland's granite belt follows a recognisable spring pattern, unlike the tropical north.
Further north, the tropical and subtropical regions do not follow the southern spring rhythm at all. Flowering there responds to the wet and dry cycle rather than to spring warming, so the timing that works for Girraween tells you very little about what is happening in the far north. Local advice matters more here than anywhere else on this list.
Tasmania
Tasmania flowers late, which is exactly why it extends the Australian wildflower season past the point where the mainland has finished. Coastal heath along the north and east comes into bloom from spring, with the Bridport reserves and the Freycinet coastline both carrying bluebells, correas and wattles through the season.
Snow daisies on the Tasmanian high country, where the display arrives in late spring and runs into summer.
The high country runs later still. Cradle Mountain and the Walls of Jerusalem plateau carry snow daisies, trigger plants and the vivid scoparia through late spring and into summer, and the Tasmanian waratah (Telopea truncata) flowers from around November into January. A trip planned for September will miss most of the alpine display entirely.
Tasmanian waratah (Telopea truncata), which flowers from around November into January in the high country.
Australian Capital Territory
The ACT is small but unusually rewarding, largely because it holds remnants of a habitat that has been almost entirely cleared elsewhere. Around 100 native wildflower species occur in the territory, and the native grasslands at reserves such as Mulanggari, Dunlop and Kama carry species that are genuinely rare in the wider landscape.
Woolly grevillea (Grevillea lanigera), one of the species flowering through the snow gum woodland of the Brindabellas.
Namadgi National Park and the Brindabella high country flower later, from around November, with pea shrubs, billy buttons, mountain hovea and woolly grevillea through the snow gum woodland. Mount Painter, Wanniassa Hills and the Molonglo River Reserve all offer accessible displays much closer to the city.
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory does not have a spring wildflower season in the sense the southern states do, and it is worth being clear about that rather than pretending otherwise. Central Australia flowers in response to rainfall, which can arrive at almost any time of year. After significant rain the country around Alice Springs can produce mass flowering of desert species on a scale that rivals anything in the south, but it cannot be scheduled and it does not happen every year.
Sturt's desert pea (Swainsona formosa), found across arid Australia and one of the species that appears after significant inland rain.
The Top End works on the wet and dry cycle instead, with its own flowering rhythm that has nothing to do with southern spring. For visitors, the Alice Springs Desert Park and the Olive Pink Botanic Garden are reliable regardless of conditions, and both give a grounding in arid zone flora that makes any later encounter in the wild far more rewarding. If you are watching for a mass flowering event, follow rainfall reports rather than the calendar.
wildflowers under threat
The native grasslands that hold much of Australia's wildflower diversity are among the most heavily cleared habitats on the continent, with over 90 per cent gone in some regions. Western Australia's south west, home to the greatest displays, is a recognised global biodiversity hotspot, a term that signals exceptional diversity under serious pressure from clearing, dieback disease and a drying climate. Visiting responsibly, buying ethically propagated seed rather than collecting from the wild, and growing native species at home all help take pressure off the places that remain.
Where and when, at a glance
A summary of the regions covered above. Timing shifts with rainfall every year, so treat the months as a starting point and confirm with the relevant park service before travelling.
Western Australia
When to go
June to November, moving north to south
Where
Coalseam Conservation Park, Kalbarri National Park, Lesueur National Park, the Stirling Range, and Kings Park in Perth
South Australia
When to go
August to October, later in the ranges
Where
Flinders Ranges including Wilpena Pound and Mount Remarkable, the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and Eyre Peninsula
Victoria
When to go
September to November, alpine into summer
Where
The Grampians, Murray-Sunset and the mallee parks, and the Bogong High Plains for the alpine display
New South Wales
When to go
August to November, alpine December to January
Where
Brisbane Water National Park, Myall Lakes, Crowdy Bay, the Blue Mountains, and Kosciuszko National Park once the snow has gone
Queensland
When to go
August to October in the south
Where
Girraween National Park and the Stanthorpe granite belt. The tropical north follows the wet and dry cycle instead
Tasmania
When to go
October to January, alpine latest
Where
Bridport reserves and the Freycinet coastline, then Cradle Mountain and the Walls of Jerusalem for the high country
Australian Capital Territory
When to go
September to December, high country latest
Where
Mulanggari, Dunlop and Kama grassland reserves, Mount Painter, Wanniassa Hills, and Namadgi National Park from November
Northern Territory
When to go
Rainfall-dependent, not seasonal
Where
No fixed window. Central Australia flowers after significant rain, whenever that falls. The Alice Springs Desert Park and Olive Pink Botanic Garden are reliable year-round
Visiting wildflowers responsibly
Wildflower sites are more fragile than they appear. The displays that draw visitors are often annuals and short-lived perennials growing in shallow, poor soil and the damage from a single busy season can persist for years. A few principles cover almost everything.
Native pigface flowering on exposed ground. Displays like this grow in shallow soil and recover slowly from trampling.
Stay on formed tracks
Trampling is the single largest cause of damage at popular sites. Walking into a display to reach a photograph compacts soil, crushes seedlings you cannot see and creates informal paths that others then follow. The photograph from the track edge is almost always the better one anyway.
The photograph taken from the track edge is almost always the better one, and costs the site nothing.
Do not pick
Picking wildflowers is illegal in national parks and reserves across every state and territory, and many species are further protected regardless of where they grow. Beyond the legality, the flowers you are picking are the plant's reproductive effort for that season, and in the case of annual everlastings, the entire next generation.
Take nothing, including seed
Collecting seed from the wild without a permit is prohibited in protected areas and is a genuine conservation problem, particularly for rare species. Australia's rare plants face significant pressure from illegal collection, as covered in our guide to Australia's rarest and most vulnerable plants. If you want to grow what you have seen, buy from a nursery that propagates ethically.
Yellow buttons flowering in desert country. Seed collected from the wild without a permit is prohibited in protected areas.
Clean your boots and vehicle
Phytophthora dieback and weed seed both travel on footwear and tyres, and wildflower country is precisely where the consequences are worst. Many sites provide boot cleaning stations, and using them matters. Where they are provided, stay on designated roads for the same reason.
Check before you travel
Sites close. Access roads wash out, parks close sections for regeneration and some reserves shut entirely for a season to allow recovery. A phone call to the local visitor centre or a check of the park service website before setting out saves a wasted drive and avoids adding pressure to a site that is already under strain.
Growing what you have seen
Seeing wildflowers in habitat changes how you plant at home, because it shows you what these species actually want. The everlastings carpeting a Mid West paddock are growing in lean soil, full exposure and no supplementary care whatsoever. That is not deprivation, it is the condition they evolved for, and the most common way gardeners fail with them is by being too generous.
Australian bluebell (Wahlenbergia species), one of the wild species that establishes readily from seed at home.
The species themselves are well within reach. Everlastings, paper daisies, bluebells and billy buttons all grow readily from seed in a home garden given open ground and sharp drainage, and many of the shrubs and groundcovers in these displays are available from native nurseries.
Paper daisies close their flowers at night and in overcast weather, an adaptation that protects the reproductive parts within.
What differs is scale: a wild display is the product of millions of seeds across a landscape, and a garden version is a smaller, patchier and more seasonal thing.
A yellow admiral butterfly (Vanessa itea) on hakea. A garden planting brings the pollinators with it.
Set expectations accordingly and it is one of the most rewarding plantings you can make.
keep reading
A Guide to Australian Native Gardening
How to plan, plant and care for a thriving native garden, whatever your experience level.
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