FEBRUARY is my pause for breath moment in the garden.
It's our hottest month, growth has slowed to a halt after spring's extended displays, but it's still too early for any signs of autumn.
Or so I thought, until I saw my Manchurian pear tree turning red. Nature loves having the last laugh.
Even in February there are things to do to keep the garden ticking over.
Watering my propagation corner this morning, I realised that several cuttings had rooted while I wasn't looking and needed new pots.
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Many cuttings taken in October and November are already big plants, including a sedum with apple green leaves edged white, (Sedum 'Frosty Morn') that, amazingly, already has flower buds.
I also found half a dozen rooted cuttings of silvery 'Dusty Miller' (Jacobaea maritima, syn. Senecio cineraria) with unusually big, shapely, oak-leaf like leaves.
I'm inordinately proud of these cuttings as I took them from a bunch of cut flowers from the IGA, so I've somehow persuaded myself that the resulting plants are free.
'Dusty Miller' can be hard to find in tablelands nurseries as being frost tender it needs covering during winter, and this is an unusually good one.
Back in the garden, semi-hardwood cuttings can be taken now of deciduous shrubs.
Lemon trees need regular watering during summer, especially if you're hoping for a good crop this winter.
Lemons are one of Australia's earliest plant introductions, having arrived on the First Fleet.
Surgeon George Worgan wrote to his brother from Sydney Cove in 1788 that orange, lemon and lime seeds had sprouted successfully, and in 1791 this was confirmed by Captain Watkin Tench when he saw citrus trees flourishing in gardens at Parramatta.
It's just as well something flourished, considering the near starvation levels endured by the Sydney Cove settlement during its early years.
While Sydney's mild climate is perfect for lemons, highland and inland gardeners can grow the frost hardy Meyer lemon, a lemon/orange hybrid.
I planted a dwarf Meyer lemon last July only to learn that, despite my general opposition to spring planting in districts with dry summers, I should have waited until all danger of frost had passed.
This would have given the tree time to establish before its first winter.
I covered it with a hessian bag whenever frost was forecast and it has survived to flower and bear fruit, but the tree itself has hardly grown.
I'm now nerving myself to remove the tiny lemons, hoping this will encourage the little tree to put its energy into growing.
February is when you appreciate the cooling effects of a water feature.
Keep it simple, like one made from a stone sink and a pipe in the Japanese Garden in Dubbo Botanical Gardens; a submersible pump keeps the water circulating.
Entry is free to Dubbo Regional Botanical Gardens. Visit www.drbg.com.au or contact 02 6801 4000.
Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show has been postponed due to COVID-19. Event planners are exploring options for a show in October 2021. Visit melbflowershow.com.au
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