BetterHomesAndGardensAustraliaDecember2015_

122 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS, DECEMBER 2015 bhg.com.au

WHAT’S ON

With more than 5000

roses in bloom,

Victoria State Rose

Garden at Werribee

Park, near Melbourne,

is nirvana for lovers

of the world’s

favourite flower. Laid

out in the form of a

five-petalled rose and

including international

and Australian-bred

blooms, the garden is

open daily 9:30am to

6pm (daylight saving

time). On 14–15

November (10am–

3pm), it hosts the

annual Victoria State

Rose & Garden Show,

with more than 50

stalls, tours, tips from

experts and plants

and garden tools for

sale. Entry to both the

show and garden is

free. Visit vicstaterose

garden.com.au

Summer bounty

When the big blowzy blooms of hydrangeas start opening, you

know summer is almost here. Wonderful for semi-shaded garden

beds, they’re also well suited to growing in containers, so they’re

great subjects for creating a focal point in the Christmas season

garden. You can find well-advanced specimens in nurseries right

now, with a good covering of blooms. Plant one into a decorative

container and edge it with a few trailing plants like white-flowered

bacopa and golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia sp.)

QKeep an eye outaround

the nurseries for spectacular

flowering liliums being sold

in pots. You can enjoy the

blooms on a patio or deck now,

then plant them out in a spot

that drains well for enjoyment

over future years.

QTreat your garden to a light

prune and apply an all-purpose

fertiliser to have it looking its

best for the Christmas-New

Year holiday period. Now is also

a good time for a general

garden clean-up. Outdoor

furniture will benefit from

a scrub with soap and water,

and woodwork will look better

with a fresh coat of paint.

QFertilise tree ferns with

half-strength liquid fertiliser and

cut away any dead fronds.

QKeep the colour coming

through summer and into

autumn with bloomer pots of

petunias, zinnias, verbenas,

dwarf phlox and elegant cool

white alyssum.

QGrow a selection of

heirloom tomatoes to add

interest and flavour to summer

dishes. If you’re having

difficulty making choices, check

out the Diggers Seeds mix that

includes the top five winners

from a taste test held earlier

this year – Tommy Toe, Pink

Bumble Bee, Jaune Flamme,

Wapsipinicon Peach and Green

Grape (diggers.com.au).

QCheck out the 2016

Permaculture Calendar with

its rainfall/temperature chart

and moon phases. It’s $14 from

permacultureprinciples.com

QIf you’re going on

holidays, line up a friend or

neighbour to water while you’re

away. It also pays to add water-

storing crystals to pots.

QFertilise citrus trees and

check the soil around their

trunks isn’t drying out – apply

a layer of mulch to help them

through the summer.

QGet in early by pruning

once-flowering roses that have

already bloomed. Repeat-

flowering roses can be pruned

too, just lightly, to encourage

more blooms in autumn.

QSow basil seed or plant

basil seedlings among your

tomato plants. The two not only

taste great together, but the

basil may keep pests away

from the tomatoes.

QClean out gutters and

eliminate piled-up debris

in bushfire-prone areas.

QFill gaps in floral borders

with already-blooming

columbines (aquilegia),

still best known as granny’s

bonnets. Coming in a vast

array of shapes and colours,

they will self-seed once they

become established.

QExamine azaleas for azalea

lace bug, indicated by a silvery

mottling of the leaves. It pays

to treat the problem, caused by

a minute sap-sucking bug, as

soon as you see it – spray with

Confidor or Maxguard.

QCheck that sprinkler

and soaker systems are

working properly and, if

necessary, replace batteries

in automatic water timers.

QGrow a few edible flowers

such as nasturtiums, marigolds

and violas to add tasty colour

to summer salads.

Photography Tony Fawcett, iStockphoto

This month...

Ge t in early t o deck the halls

wi th... h yd ran geas

IN THE

GARDEN

December gardendiary

Philadelphus

Nasturtiums