Sow tomato seeds undercover for maximum protection.   

Plant dahlia tubers and gladioli corms.

If you live in a frost-prone area, wait until mid-spring to prune fuchsias otherwise they can be done now.  

Fuchsias can be cut back quite hard as many dormant buds will be present along the stems and pruning stimulates these into growth.   

Pinch out the new growth tips in spring as this inhibits the dominance of the terminal buds.

This promotes more shoots to appear giving the bush a fuller, compact appearance.    

Waratahs are pruned after flowering in late October or early November. This involves cutting back the flowered stems to about half-a-metre from the ground. These stems will send up three or four shoots, which will each produce a flower.  These are in turn cut back, leaving 10cm of the flowered stem on the bush. The shrub will become 10cm taller each year.  

When it has reached about two to three metres in height, it should be cut back to the ground and allowed to regenerate, usually every ten to fifteen years. Feed after pruning with an organic-based fertiliser such as for camellias and azaleas or blood and bone. 

A well-pruned waratah should grow an abundance of long-stemmed flowers every year.

Waratahs grow best in well-drained, sandy soil with acid humus added and low phosphorus content in the soil.

There is a white flowered variety as well as the bright crimson one.

Wait until camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons have finished flowering before feeding them with aged compost, pelletised poultry manure or blood and bone.  

Mulch around these plants to a depth of between 5-8cms, depending on their size.

Keep mulch away from the trunk.

Mulch is crucial for surface-rooting plants because it keeps the roots cool in summer, conserves moisture and keeps weeds under control.

Queen Anne’s Lace is a biennial plant grown for its delicate, lacy flowerheads made up of numerous tiny white flowers with a small purple dot in the centre. The attractive feathery leaves resembles those of its relative - the carrot.   

A hardy plant, it thrives in dry conditions and is at home in the border of cottage gardens when positioned behind lower, more colourful plantings.