AT THE moment the garden is an explosion of colour and it is a great time to get warm-season flowers planted once the risk of frost has passed.
For hot sunny areas, you can't go past petunias for a magnificent display.
Prepare the soil by digging in lots of well-rotted compost and some animal manure.
Add water-storing crystals and a granular wetting agent.
There are many varieties of petunias to choose from with the traditional annual petunias, such as colour parade with single flowers or giant victorious with big full double flowers.
Spreading petunias are a more recent addition with individual plants often spreading up to a metre across.
These cost a little more than traditional seedlings but cover a much greater area and really are prolific and long lasting.
Popcorn is a popular variety with soft creamy popcorn-coloured flowers in profusion, on a plant that spreads 90-100cm.
Flowers are produced about six to eight weeks from planting so you aren't waiting long.
Spreading petunias are perfect for hanging baskets as their trailing habit creates a cascade of colour.
Use a large basket to help maintain moisture levels in the warmer weather and a top-quality potting mix for best results.
Time for an orchid phase
Divide and re-pot orchids as they finish flowering, especially if they are breaking out of their pots.
Use a special orchid potting mix available at your local garden centre.
Take off any dead leaves and old bulbs and pot the new ones in a pot just large enough to take the plant.
These divisions may not flower in the first year, but keep them well fed with a liquid orchid fertiliser and they will build up their size and put on a showy display the following year.
As winter flowering shrubs finish their blooming it is time to give them a prune to shape and a feed to encourage new growth.
Add a wetting agent around the soil if it looks a little repellant and mulch with a 3-5cm layer of pea straw or lucerne, to reduce water loss and build up the soil texture as the straw rots down.
When new growth appears on plants it is often not completely green and many people wonder what is wrong.
One of the easiest ways to detect a problem is to test the soil pH. Test kits can be purchased from nurseries and are easy to use.
If your soil is too acidic, add dolomite at the recommended rate and if it is too alkaline, add sulfur.
