Height of summer

PATRICIA SOPER

BLOOMING BERGAMOT: A herb with a rosy floral accent. The foliage is upright and attractive and the flowers have a spidery habit. A great splash of colour in a border.

PATRICIA SOPER

VEGETABLES APLENTY: This is the time when all the hard work pays off. There is nothing more satisfying than harvesting your own produce.

PATRICIA SOPER

HITTING THE HEIGHTS: "Graham Thomas'' is touted as one of the finest yellow roses. It has clear, cupped blooms, glossy foliage and a delightful scent. For some reason our specimen has reached an extraordinary height this year, so much so that support had to be put in place. In South Africa it can grow up to 3m.

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Gardening

Feijoas and citrus top of the pops Hanging out to impress Elements of a garden beyond food and sun Crowning glory A winter of colour Plant now to reap the fruits Tips for pruning without spreading disease A way with the birds? Plant these trees Rose named after Lady Banks Secret to good spuds

Since my last gardening column the season has turned a notch. Warm days and heavy dews are indicative of an aging summer and, with the garden at its best, I hate to even contemplate its last official month.

But gardening is all about anticipating change. The appearance of fungi is also another sign that late summer and early autumn are merging, albeit in a riot of colour and height. After a very difficult start a welcome combination of heat and rain has produced excellent growth this season.

Lawns have remained green, not often the case here, and trees young and old have grown noticeably.

I like to think of this time as the season of plenty, with vegetable plots overflowing and the glasshouse providing a wealth of salad ingredients. The flower garden has reached maturity with phlox, lavenders, roses and daisies creating a tall backdrop and, for a little while at least, a welcome respite from vigilant weeding.

The new-release rose Janice Wallis is creating a stir among southern gardeners.

A hybrid tea, described as bridal pink, it has large, semi-double cupped blooms and glossy foliage. It flowers in flushes throughout the season and promises to be a new presence in many rose beds. I can remember seeing the late Janice Wallis on a televised gardening show many years ago; she impressed me as a knowledgeable rose-grower.

The programme also showcased a rose called R alba "Semi-Plena", a huge specimen with grey-green foliage and milky-white blooms. It must have been a time when I was expanding my own rose collection, trying to cultivate roses in difficult situations.

So taken was I with this shade-adapting rose that I seem to have gone to extraordinary lengths to source it. I can't remember where I managed to find one but I do recall that it arrived by courier, a fairly new concept at the time. I felt very innovative. It flourished in my old garden and when I moved I was very reluctant to leave it behind. So I did what any sensible (or obsessed) gardener would do – I chopped it down nearly to ground level, dug it up and heeled it in a very large container, where it sat under old pine trees in my new garden for an entire winter. When the ground thawed (it was a particularly hard winter), I planted it with trepidation. It has flourished ever since and never fails to remind me of that tumultuous time.

Gladioli are flowering – a new green variety and some old favourites. They bear the brunt of many snide comments, thanks in no small part to Barry Humphries and his alter ego Dame Edna Everage, but they are a stately flower that is making a comeback. I associate the "gladi" with my mother who, I have to admit, had a love-hate relationship with them for reasons best known only to her.

Echinacea and bergamot are now flowering. I grow white and deep-pink echinacea, which I value for their sturdy stems and dramatic black centres. They are a wonderful border plant, remaining upright even in the strongest wind.

As a footnote, our apple cucumber is completely out of control and we are inundated with capsicums. Let's enjoy it all while we can in this season of plenty.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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