Adelaide’s 12 most fungal tolerant shrub roses, not necessarily in order of any hardiness: ‘Mothers’ Love’ a pale pink, ‘Your Garden’ a pale pink, ‘The Children’s’ Rose’ also pale pink, ‘Bonica’ a small flowering palest of pinks, ‘Mary Warnes’ pale pink and doing very well in Government house, ‘Le Sevilliana’ a scarlet red, ‘Starstruck’ an apricot to peach coloured rose, ‘Gold Bunny’ a rich golden colour, ‘Golden Conquest’ a golden rose, ‘Iceberg’ the classic white, ‘Mawson’ a white rose and most of the modern Rugosa hybrids, such as ‘Alba’, ‘Scabrosa’ and ‘Rugspin’. OK so that is 14, but they are all good roses.

Interesting to note that I couldn’t get any expert to agree that there were any hardy mauve roses. Several mentioned that the thickness of rose leaves determines fungal tolerance and that feeding roses just twice a year with a big nitrogen feed, just causes problems. Better to feed with a balanced rose fertilizer more regularly. The potassium also greatly aids flowering and leaf thickness. While we seldom see Downey mildew on our roses in Adelaide, we can expect it this year!

I planted some Impatiens for my stepdaughter Holli recently and also put some in my garden and into pots. All of which have failed to thrive, even though they came from several sources. I’m crestfallen. I have to admit never having grown them before, but being castigated by Holli for poor gardening practise is pretty rough. Any ideas from seasoned growers of what I thought was a dead easy bedding plant?

I did however plant a few seedlings of a purple Petunia into a large shallow ceramic pot with a narrow border of white Alyssum that looks stunning in just three weeks. That only proved it’s not too late to get a potted display ready for Christmas. But hop to it!

I planted several Caper plants around the garden last year and the only one that seems to have thrived was the one I planted out on the verge, where it gets hardly any water, perfect drainage (it’s practically pure sand) and gets baked by the afternoon sun. So if trying to locate a caper don’t give it your choicest spot. They like it tough.

It’s time to feed your lawn for that brighter than bright Christmas look. I use a water-soluble fertilizer spread with a spreader and then a pulverised organic pellet product. That way the lawn gets an instant greening with the water-soluble nutrient and a slower release from the organic fertilizer. Importantly the organic provides the buffer that the water-soluble needs, so it’s not one or the other… but both.

If you are looking for some colour to plant over the next few weeks, search out the modern Canna cultivars. Cannas have always been hardy in this area, but the new foliage forms that also have sensational flowers are a bonus. They make a great statement for a narrow garden bed in full sun and will thrive on most organic pellets, if that’s your style of gardening. Cut them back to the ground each winter and you’re a gardener with no effort.

In the Adelaide Hills Rhododendrons and Azaleas have almost finished flowering, so it’s timely to think about pruning or removing spent flower heads. Because most of them are pretty woody plants it is often overlooked that they can be pruned quite heavily. I’ve seen the goats prune Rhododendrons to a stump in the mountains of Nepal and still they shoot back, so they can take more than you think.

If you are looking around for some tomatoes to plant, get hold of ‘Mighty Red’ seedlings. They do really well in the hills and are quite resistant to all the wilts and fungal diseases that usually mess up your veggie patch. I’ve seen then still bearing fruit in May in the hills, which is a big ask.