Linda Hellyer

This summer has been a good one for the roses. We had fantastic growth in early spring and enjoyed a great display over the summer months.

The simple pansy is at the top of my list for winter-flowering annuals. It is easy care and even better, is always flowering.

This summer has seen a particularly good flowering display from the roses. The recent mild spring provided us with a fantastic start to our growing season, allowing the roses to put on plenty of lush, healthy growth.

Many of us have family traditions or rituals at Christmas.

To keep roses at their best and encourage a non-stop display of flowers, a few simple summer tasks may help you along the way.

One of the first of the spring-flowering perennials to emerge after winter and provide wonderful flower colour as well as interesting foliage is Pulmonaria.

Bare-rooted roses will begin to arrive in the garden centres and nurseries from June.

This is a tough time of year for your roses, especially after the summer we have had. To help maintain their health and vigour as well as extend the flowering, it is best to keep up with a few basic tasks.

One plant that has stunning lush new growth and attractive spring flowers at the same time is Dicentra spectabilis.

There is still time to plant roses.

Why prune? Pruning is undertaken to encourage new growth by removing old and spindly growth.

With careful planning, the advantage of using annuals is their ability to provide change and interest as often and whenever it is desired.

After a stroll around the rose garden at this time of year, many people may think roses are past their best.

This year the Otago Rose Society celebrates its diamond jubilee year and I was thinking how appropriate the rose Diamond Jubilee, a tall hybrid tea with scented creamy white blooms, would be for acknowledging this occasion.