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Autumn in Western Australia

© John Bottomley

March usually brings in a change of season; in fact we have had a small drop of rain already - less than 3 mm (about 0.12 inches). But, there is not always a seasonal change; many gardening activities around Western Australia are still being influenced by very hot weather. One tends to be a little bit put off by burnt foliage, but I believe this will soon disappear with the first real rains. The day temperatures will begin to drop and cooler nights will begin to make life a little more bearable.

I am planning for a garden full of winter and spring promise; fresh vegetables for the winter, seeds and bulbs for an exciting spring display will be my objectives over the next few weeks.

At this time of the year, various soft wooded perennials such as geraniums and fuchsias will need pruning as their main flowering period is drawing to a close. It may be that a few late blooms may be sacrificed, but doing this job now means new growth will be encouraged and this will carry next season's blooms. Prunings are ideal for propagating, and the cuttings made in March will form roots in 3-4 weeks.

It is as well at this time of the year to give considerable thought to autumn bulb planting. Preparation of the bed now with suitable amounts of compost and stable manure will settle before April when the planting should be done.

One of the local gardening gurus tells me that if you lightly prune the rose bushes in mid March they will respond with a top rate display during autumn and early winter. However, there is the possibility with dewy nights and warms days, towards the end of the month, mildew and black spot may appear. In this case spray the roses in the second and third week to get rid of these problems.

Normally, we give the roses a really good prune in late August, which means the bushes do not bloom again till late spring. Anyway, we are going to give the March pruning method a try this year and will be interested to see what happens to the roses after this.

I have always had a tendency to plant bushes that bloom in autumn. Correa mannii, called the "Native Fuchsia" is a good small shrub, which grows to about 1 metre (3.3 feet). It is a compact plant with heart shaped leaves, olive green in colour and attached to the branches on short stems. The flowers are bell shaped and blossom in profusion in early autumn and keep their intense red colour during the early to mid-winter. The blooms produce a lot of nectar, which attracts many honey eating birds - the supply is usually limited at this time of the year.

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