Gardening Australia

Australia’s number one monthly gardening resource, ABC Gardening Australia magazine is packed with step-by-step advice and stunning design ideas from its popular team of experts. Whether you are a novice gardener or have a green thumb and years of experience, you’ll find the advice you need.

welcome

ON THE SHELF PLANTS • This month’s pick of the bunch for garden lovers nationwide

Gardening Australia

summer dalliance • Dahlias are big, blousy and back in fashion, whether they’re growing in the garden or looking fabulous indoors in a vase. Best of all, these bold blooms linger into autumn, writes JENNIFER STACKHOUSE

SMALL PACKAGES

prepare to PAMPER • Native boronias need a sure hand to keep them happy AB BISHOP shares some expert tips to help you get the most from these flowering beauties

TIPS for SUCCESS • Boronias are not that long-lived. You can expect to enjoy most forms for about five years, although plenty have been known to live much longer. Here’s what they need to be happy.

DID YOU KNOW?

star PERFORMER • The desert rose needs little encouragement to put on a brilliant show, says KARYN COUPER-SMITH

floral FANFARE • A brugmansia, or angel’s trumpet, in full bloom is a sight to behold, and there are exciting new cultivars to try, says MARIANNE CANNON

Top picks • Brugmansias come in many colours and forms, with new cultivars arriving all the time. Look for these standouts:

POISON ALERT!

TAKING CUTTINGS

meet the flower grower BRENDA CUNNINGHAM • Combining full-time parenting with tending a flourishing garden is all in a day’s work for this flower lover, writes SALLY FELDMAN

meet the flower grower PAM GLUCINA • Life has blossomed for this passionate gardener since she moved up in the world, writes SALLY FELDMAN

create your first PERENNIAL PATCH • There’s lots of talk about perennials these days, and the talk is getting more and more sophisticated. But where do you start if you’ve never used these plants before? MICHAEL McCOY takes it from the top

SWAP IT

care & maintenance

10 ways to MAKE YOUR GARDEN BEE friendly • We need bees more than ever, and there are lots of things that gardeners can do to make them feel welcome, writes SOPHIE THOMSON

KNOW your SOIL • Good gardening starts with good soil, so it pays to know how to examine, test and understand the stuff beneath your feet

BRING BACK THE buttonhole • A cheap and cheerful way to brighten dark days is to resume wearing flowers writes JACKIE FRENCH

the gardener's bucket list LEURA in New South Wales, Australia • Cool-climate delights beckon in the charming ‘garden village’ of the Blue Mountains, says JUDY HORTON

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

OCTOMBER a month in the GARDEN • More than 50 jobs to do in your action planner

IN THE PATCH • Horticultural editor and devoted food grower PHIL DUDMAN shows you what to plant, pick and tend in the edible garden this month

CROPS IN POTS

helping HAND • Tips for tackling this month’s problems

Summer FIESTA • Nothing beats a sweet, juicy, home-grown capsicum, and you can have success with this fruit in all zones, says PHIL DUDMAN

PROBLEM-SOLVING CHECKLIST

Phil’s TOP PICKS

MAILBOX

write and win!

Your Insta posts

radio

TV • Gardening Australia is on ABC TV every Friday at 7.30pm and is repeated on Sunday at 1.30pm and on iview.

the big picture • As changing light transforms the entire garden into a sundial, noticing the micro shifts is a gauge of pleasure, writes MICHAEL McCOY