Get along to autumn garden shows around Australia

The change of season brings with it a range of events across Australia overflowing with new ideas and varieties.

The KaBloom Festival of Flowers in Victoria. Photo: Supplied

The change of season brings a range of garden events to provide inspiration and motivation. This weekend the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show wraps up its five-day spectacle of show gardens, floral displays, talks and plant sales in the beautiful Carlton Gardens and Royal Exhibition Building. Starting this weekend is Tesselaar KaBloom Festival of Flowers (pictured), which runs until April 27 in the Dandenong Ranges; more than a million blooms over 2ha are arranged in intricate patterns, with entertainments through the holidays including Circus Oz, kids’ entertainment, rides and food trucks.

Tesselaar KaBloom Festival of Flowers.

On the weekend of April 12-13, the Yarra Valley Plant Fair and Garden Expo at Wandin has specialist plant sales, speakers, a plant clinic and children’s activities, supporting the Kids With Cancer Foundation. In NSW also on April 12-13, the Oberon Autumn Colour Garden Showcase offers eight gardens to visit, and on April 26-27 the Southern Highlands Autumn Gardens Weekend has five open gardens and a Plant Fair at the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens, with collectors’ plant stalls, garden items and refreshments.

What to plant – Bloom or Bust

The brilliant blooms used in the massed displays at KaBloom include salvias, cosmos, cleome, phlox, globe amaranth, celosia …

Dahlias

Marigolds

and these four:

Snapdragons

Sunflowers

Q&A

Each week we buy bunches of gladiolus, lilies or tulips. We wash and angle-cut the stems, put them in fresh water in clean, tall vases, then change the water and re-cut the stems every few days. But often the stems buckle and fold over. What can we do?

Ian Dunlop, by email

You’re doing most things correctly. Remove all foliage that would be underwater. Add some floral preservative to feed flowers, and half a teaspoon of citric acid per litre of water to kill bacteria. Keep flowers away from direct sun, heat sources and ripening fruit. Check flowers are fresh when you buy them, and buy locally grown where possible (imported flowers can be two weeks old and are chemically treated). Flowers harvested prematurely wilt more easily, and forced growing out of season can produce weak stems.

With the continuing hot, dry weather in Victoria, deciduous trees are already developing autumn colour and losing leaves. Is there any benefit in watering them? If I don’t, will they die?

Dani Chatfield, Mt Macedon

Losing leaves prematurely is a natural defence against drought, as trees limit their overall need for water and their water losses. It’s like an early hibernation. The change of leaf colour signifies the nutrients from the leaves have been reabsorbed back into the tree prior to shedding. There’s no need to water them now.

Our massive cherry tree, which is more than 100 years old, still bears tasty fruit but needs to be cut back. How severely can we prune it?

Peter, Tasmania

Pruning old trees too hard risks shock and death. It can also stimulate massive sprouting of suckers and overly vigorous vertical shoots. Prune no more than a third each year. After removing dead, diseased and crossed branches, selectively remove a few larger branches, creating an open vase shape. Always prune branches back to a fork – don’t lop mid-stem. You can also shorten the remaining branches. The best time is summer after fruiting.

Felco secateurs

Send your questions to [e-mail] The best question for March will win a pair of iconic Swiss precision Felco 2 secateurs nd a Felco 910 holster worth $169. (heiniger.com.au/felco)