Tulips burst into bloom

There are a trillion things to do and a trillion things to distract me, like a gorgeous new tulip or a snow-white tree peony bursting into bloom.

Tulips are small this spring, although primrose yellow 'Lemon Delicious' has produced beautiful big flowers on its shortened stalks.

It is a Triumph hybrid, the largest group of tulip hybrids, with cup shaped flowers and sturdy stems, flowering early to mid-season depending on location.

The thick, satiny textured petals of an opening tulip can keep me engaged forever, that is until I notice some weeds springing to life and ask myself why I didn't under-sow the tulips with forget-me-nots when I planted them last May.

Dark blue 'Indigo' would be so perfect, I'm making a diary note as I type.

I also made a diary note to get more labels, these being essential when planting anything new.

I use white plastic labels and a pencil rather than an oil marker.

The latter fades in time but pencil lasts indefinitely provided you write on the rough side of the label, not the shiny side.

Meanwhile, weeds are proliferating busily. One of the tiresome aspects of gardening in drought is that weeds follow even the tiniest shower as the night the day.

If you don't get rid of weeds now they're with you all summer so whenever I'm gardening, I pull them up as I go and chuck them around as mulch.

I snip off the heads off any flowers before they set seed.

This technique is fine for annual dandelions, chickweed and so on but perennials like couch and dock need isolating.

Incinerate them before fire bans come in (see www.rfs.nsw.gov.au) or spray with organic Slasher.

Spring flowering may bush (Spiraea), forsythia and viburnums like V. x burkwoodii and V. carlesii need pruning in October if you like keeping them reasonably contained.

Wattles (Acacia) have been fabulous this year, they must like warm dry weather.

I love the black wattle (Acacia mearnsii), an open, spreading small tree (five to 15 metres) with smooth bark that's native to this district and happy on shallow, dry soils.

Its lacy leaves are exactly the right shade of blue-green to set off its limey-yellow, sweet smelling flowers.

Wattles like many native species need tip pruning when young, after flowering has finished, to create shapely, rounded shrubs rather than lanky, leggy monsters that flowers miles over your head.

If you love lacey-leaved wattles, the purple leaved version of the potentially weedy Cootamundra wattle (A. baileyana Purpurea) is a good alternative, its glaucous blue and purple tipped foliage a perfect background for the lemony flowers.

This is definitely one to tip prune in its youth.

Narrandera Town and Country Open Gardens takes place Sunday, October 27, 9am to 5pm, $20 includes Devonshire Tea and plant stall at Uniting Church Hall, lunch available at Hillsbrae, $10, all profits to Narrandera Can Assist.

Details phone 0428 597 655, email julieroffe@gmail.com/