![Miniature daffodil 'Tete a Tete' is hardy and quick to multiply. Miniature daffodil 'Tete a Tete' is hardy and quick to multiply.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/yLeFMnh28MAxupuQMFvs9Q/971703b4-7135-4d3b-abf2-8e55f86ced6a.JPG/r0_0_2540_2038_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Where did summer go?
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One day I was planting petunias and preparing for our October open garden, the next minute our ornamental grape was turning red and nurseries were carrying spring bulbs.
At least, that's how it seemed, but time flies when you're gardening.
I'm now making lists of things to do before winter, starting with replacing the petunias with pansies.
I've already planted two pots with miniature Viola tricolour in different colour combinations, as I love its long flowering season and reliability.
My next task is to prune the star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides, see The Land, November 23, 2023). This hardy evergreen creeper has been spectacular this summer, it began blooming in November and one vine on the shady south side of our house is still covered in sweet smelling flowers.
Star jasmine needs a hard chop every three or four years or it can become unmanageable: wear gloves when doing this to protect your skin from its toxic milky sap.
Dwarf varieties of summer flowering butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) can be dead headed as their flowers finish.
Butterfly bush flower trusses have an annoying habit of turning brown at the base exactly when the tips are fully open and at their best. But they are such useful shrubs, drought- and frost-hardy and with a long season of scented bloom that I don't mind spending a bit of time on them.
The species is a large, arching shrub up to five metres tall but there are plenty of smaller forms available in shades of purple, red and white.
You can continue taking semi-ripe cuttings of shrubs in March, the weather is warm enough to encourage quick rooting.
It's easy to spot the 'heels' on the plants, where this year's growth joins the older, woody stem: these are the quickest bits to produce new roots.
Summer perennials that have finished flowering can be dead headed now and seeds of favourites collected at the same time.
I snip off the starry white flowers of garlic chives when they start showing tiny green seeds, as they germinate in the most inconvenient places, like the middle of a patch of salvias or sedums.
If you're pushed for time, treat weeds in the same way, it's quicker than digging them out.
Vegetable gardens are groaning with produce in March.
Even with my small patch I'm flat-out harvesting zucchinis, squash and cucumbers.
I'm leaving the Queensland Blue pumpkins to continue ripening on the vine, being sub-tropical they need maximum warmth in our cool climate garden to mature.
My tomatoes that I planted late have turned out to be less of a disaster than I expected. They are ripening nicely, just in time to take over from Bill's plants that went in a month earlier and have now finished fruiting.
Highland gardeners should sow broad beans on the equinox (March 20) to harvest next November.
Don't forget to buy/order spring bulbs for autumn planting or you may miss out on something you specially wanted.
The biggest job for March for all gardeners who live where summers are hot and dry is planting, but this is a big topic, it will have to wait for next week.
Pack of 16 Mini Collection, including 'Tete a Tete', is available from Garden Express (www.gardenexpress.com.au) $25.80.