Flowers
All zones
Zones 1-3
Zones 4-6
- Aster
- Californian poppy
- Candytuft
- Carnation
- Lobelia
- Snapdragon
Vegetables
All zones
- Artichoke
- Asparagus
- Beans
- Beetroot
- Capsicum
- Carrot
- Eggplant
- Green onion
- Lettuce
- Potato
- Pumpkin
- Radish
- Shallot
- Silverbeet
- Squash
- Sweetcorn
- Sweet potato
- Tomato
- Zucchini
Zones 1-3
- Taro
- Okra
- Water chestnut
Zones 4-6
October gardening jobs
- Deadhead already-bloomed spring roses to encourage new ones – but only after bulbs die down.
- Pep up house plants with an application of half-strength liquid fertiliser fortnightly until summer's end.
- Cut away dead leaves and old root growth on cymbidium orchids - and divide plants in pots that have become overly cramped.
- Treat gardenias suffering leaf yellowing due to a chilly winter by soaking soil with a dose of Epsom salts mixed in water.
- Give native trees a trim to keep them in shape.
- Cheap as chips pots of annuals work wonders. Set up beds of already-flowering salvias, snapdragons, pansies, marigolds, nasturtiums and lobelia.
- Paint timber furniture in joyous colours, spray tired paling fences grey or green to create exciting backdrops for plants and revitalise old pots in spring tones.
- Divide cymbidium orchids that are too big for their pots.
- Fertilise fruit and ornamental trees to encourage spring growth.
- Take semi-hardwood or tip cuttings of favourite evergreen shrubs to increase numbers.
- Lift height of mower blades a few centimetres in drier areas – extra leaf blade length gives protection from sun and drying winds.