Andrea’s Garden Reflections

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Wild and Free: Some Pennsylvanian Garden Container Inspiration to plan this key garden trend for Spring.

2024 Container planting

Bloom Wildly: 2024 Container Planting at Suburban Square, PA

I know that we are only just heading into Autumn here in Perth, but there is no harm in dreaming and planning for Spring 2025 with some garden container inspiration now. It will be here before you know it.

Single Grey Container at entrance to store in Ardmore PA

Last August, I had the great pleasure of visiting Suburban Square in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. Over the past 3 years this incredible shopping precinct has been brought to life with spectacular bursts of colour through their annual container displays. However, for me, the 2024 Bloom Wildly container planting took explosions of container filled colour to the next level.

Suburban Square obviously take a great deal of pride in blending retail with nature and the 2024 planting initiative demonstrated that philosophy in the most delightful way.

Andrea (L) with her friend, Horticulturist and Educator, Louise Clarke (R) from Media PA

2024 marked the third year of the The Bloom Wildly festival of flowers and aimed to bring inspired botanical beauty to urban and retail environments. The focus for Bloom Wildly 2024 was on bold colours, pollinator-friendly species, and sustainable container gardening practices. Any gardener seeking garden container inspiration could experience it at every turn. A collaboration between some local horticulturalists, landscape designers and community volunteers, the installation included dozens of super healthy plants filled to overflowing containers which were placed throughout the shopping centre’s walkways, plazas and patios.

The design themes I experienced drew inspiration from meadow-style planting trends, which was forward-projecting for the ‘Wild and Free’ trend for Spring/Summer 2025 in Australia.

Containers featured loose, whimsical arrangements mixing textures, heights and bloom times. The Thriller plants included Echinacea, black-eyed Susans, ornamental grasses (lots of fabulous tall grasses) and Salvias — all of which bloomed their heads off in containers and welcomed bees, butterflies and other pollinators like hummingbirds, all in an outdoor suburban shopping mall.

So many great examples of ‘Thriller Spiller Filler’ container planting style was everywhere. Bright splashes of Geraniums, trailing Petunias, and annual Calibrachoa were obviously chosen for their stunningly bright colours and continuous blooms throughout the Pennsylvanian Spring and Summer months.

Pennsylvanian native plant species were carefully included, demonstrating that native plants do just as well in containers as introduced annuals and perennials.

The native inclusions offered encouragement and container inspiration for visiting gardeners to plant these specimens in their own gardens to support local ecosystems, as a water wise and environmentally friendly option. All of the containers used in 2024 were chosen with sustainability in mind. Many were made from recycled or repurposed materials and filled with more sustainably produced compost and soil blends. The plants were all super healthy and obviously appreciated the good soil in the containers.

The transformation of this retail space was a little bit mind blowing for this Aussie visitor. I had never seen any thing quite like it before. The joy that live plants and nature interacting wild and freely with people in an urban setting such as this, is remarkable on so many levels. The fact that the owners of this space are willing to commit to such installations year after year is commendable.

And so if you’re inspired to create some stunning containers…this is a pretty good place to start…what wild and free inclusions will be in your garden??? Let me know here.

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Blooming Roses, Just In Time For The Easter Bunny.

Andrea's Summer pruning her roses this weekend
Here’s how to get your roses blooming again before this guy arrives!

Fun fact, did you know your roses will be blooming again 42 days after you have given them a trim?

Let me start by saying I would never profess to being an expert rosarian, but I do love roses and have been admiring and growing them in Perth for years. I have had very good success selecting just the right ones and caring for them for my clients as well.

I am just like everyone else in the garden, sometimes I have great success and other times not so much. Here’s what has worked for me.

Now the worst of our Summer heat is over – and let’s face it, this year has been horrible (all that dry heat backed up by a hefty dose of humidity). It is time to give my roses a bit of a trim. This “Summer Prune” will be more than just deadheading which I usually do to encourage more blooms when the flowers are spent.

In Perth, I am now having better success by doing the big traditional rose prune at the end of August and even sometimes mid September, rather than July. This results in a fabulous Spring flush of big healthy rose blooms. I love that time of the year. I am rewarded for my efforts. I give them plenty of Mature Compost, say 4 hands full per rose and a regular application of fertiliser that is low in Nitrogen and higher in Potassium. In addition, I give them Seasol and Powerfeed every 2-3 weeks. This regime keeps the soil healthy and the plants love it. That’s my Spring and it is really gorgeous in my garden.

The Summer months are very harsh on plants here at my place and the roses tend to spot flower only, despite my best efforts. Sometimes just when they are about to bloom we will have a 40 degree day and they will literally shrivel up in an hour or two. I am learning to live with that. I enjoy them for the day they bloom and then deadhead them about day 3 and just focus on keeping the plants alive with water, Seasol and Powerfeed, https://www.seasol.com.au/ as well as a wettting agent, like Grosorb.

It is 42 days and counting to the Easter long weekend, which is about the right number of days from trimming the roses to blooming again. So, can you guess what I am doing this weekend?

Easter is a big deal at our place. I think it is by far my favourite holiday in the calendar.

My Easter table…alfresco dining in Perth is always our Easter tradition

We actually have more days off with all of the Public Holidays at Easter-time than we traditionally do at Christmas. At Christmas, in the middle of Summer, we race around the shops, trying to find the perfect gifts for everyone and prepare the perfect meal all at once, as well as catching up with friends and family. It is mayhem.

Easter takes on a much more relaxed feel and the weather is so much kinder on people and plants! It is a lovely time for entertaining with friends and family. My garden takes on a softer feel, the sun is not as brutal, the mornings are cooler and the days are still spectacular.

Gifts are kept to a minimum too with a few chocolate eggs and yes, there will be cake, but it’s really about the decoration of the home and garden that I get a kick out of.

This is David Austin ‘Jubilee Celebration’ in my garden last Easter

In preparation for Easter, I will be giving my roses a good trim this weekend, I will be “Summer pruning” my roses. “Summer pruning” describes going just a bit lower than you would normally deadhead.

The shrubs will be reduced back under the next union from where I have deadheaded through the Summer months.

If there are any plants with defoliated leaves, which can happen in the Summer, I will not be cut back those too hard.

I will be adding Mature Compost https://www.swanvalleylandscapesupplies.com.au/ around the base of each plant, and I will be giving them some fertiliser. I will make sure that they are getting plenty of water as we still have not had any rain.

I will check on the lupin straw mulch and top it up, where required and offer a wetting agent like Grosorb, https://www.baileysfertiliser.com.au/products/category/wetting-agents/ Grosorb before the mulch goes on top.

Some of my containers need a little work too. They are looking a bit sad after Summer and I will re-visit them with some fresh plants. Who needs an excuse to go plant shopping? Not me.

A little preparation now and around Easter many of my roses will be flowering their heads off again. I can’t wait. They will flower all the way through to June and even into July.

This weekend, will you be Summer Pruning to enjoy blooming roses soon? You know that I will be, and of course, if you need some advice contact me here.

These roses are ready for their Summer Prune
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Working your way through Winter

grey storms rolling over the Perth skyline with a grey calm river
Perth city horizon with grey stormy clouds overhead and a choppy murky river to the front.

Makuru June and July The Season of Fertility

OK, so yes, it is rainy and a bit cold out there but that shouldn’t stop us die hard gardeners from setting the foundations for a stunning spring garden.

Makuru in Noongar language, (the indigenous language from where most of us live and garden here in Perth and Western Australia) is known as the season of fertility. June and July, is the time when the seeds you plant in your garden will easily germinate shortly after you plant them. The seeds will be watered and nourished by the rain and warmed by the sunshine when we have those days in between the rains. It is the perfect time for planting.

Be a careful shopper

New plants when planted small as tube stock or smaller specimens will really take off at this time of the year and actually will settle into the soil much faster than if your were to plant a bigger plant from the garden centre. This ultimately saves you money and you end up with a more beautiful garden with healthy well established plants by the time we experience the heat of summer as the roots are more established and can survive with less water. At the garden centre or nursery don’t always go for the biggest plant you can find. There is always a good selection of smaller plants to choose from. Check them out first. Many local councils will offer vouchers for discounted tube stock plants from APACE nursery to help you get started. https://www.apacewa.org.au/

Prepare your Soil before you Plant

This is the best time to improve your soil with compost and minerals to prepare. The soil is nice and damp so will make digging easier and adding nutrients to the soil a breeze. Also, it is cooler so easier on your own body working outdoors. I use Mature Compost from Swan Valley Landscape Supplies. https://www.swanvalleylandscapesupplies.com.au/

Don’t Prune Your Roses just yet

It is still too early to prune your roses, wait until August or even early September. Don’t prune them too hard, especially if you have cut them back after Summer due to the dreaded chilli thrip.

Keep an Eye on Your Weeds, please!

Keep your weeds under control by pulling them as they emerge, let’s not make heavy weather of this…see one poking its head out, rip it out. Stop them from spreading their seeds into your neighbour’s house. My favourite weeding tool is the Cobrahead Weeder-you can buy them in Australia now. https://www.allrareherbs.com.au/product/mini-weeder-cultivator-garden-tool/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwk8e1BhALEiwAc8MHiBGY1Wqjdw55k5Q8GW25583V8kREmPPxhB2B0i44S_yUD8CS8F6B7xoCf_EQAvD_BwE

Cobrahead tool at work in the soil

Snuggle Up with A Good Book

If it’s too wet outside, there’s always a good gardening book to read. I am reading Good Life Gardening by Hannah Maloney. https://au.permacultureprinciples.com/product/good-life-growing/

What are you reading, this winter?

Grey but calm view of the Perth skyline across the river from a jetty.
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5 Garden Tools That Will Guarantee Your Success

Andrea Whitely watering a hanging basket with a pink coloured MagicWand garden tool.


Whether you’re a seasoned green thumb or just beginning to explore the joys of gardening, having the right garden tools can make all the difference.

The right equipment helps you work more efficiently, reduce strain, and ultimately get better results from your garden, and you will have much more fun with the right gear.

Here are my five top gardening tools that I just can’t garden without. No matter what style of gardening you’re into, these will all be super handy.

Right now, I am pruning and weeding and trimming and liquid fertilising and planting, yep Autumn is the best time for planting and gardening in Perth so these 5 tools are all on high rotation right now.

I have power tools such as a battery powered blower and trimmer, and I do have shovels and rakes but these five tools are always close at hand and always in use in my garden. I’m sure they will be in yours too very soon.

CobraHead Weeder

The CobraHead Weeder is a game-changer for removing stubborn weeds and cultivating soil. Its uniquely curved steel blade mimics the motion of a cobra striking—hence the name—and slices effortlessly through soil, roots and tangled vegetation. Ideal for weeding in tight spaces, loosening soil, and even transplanting small plants, this versatile tool is a must-have. The ergonomic handle ensures comfort, even during extended sessions in the garden. Its durability and multi-purpose design make it one of the most beloved hand tools among gardeners. Wherever I go gardening my clients always ask, “What is that tool?” and “Where can I get one?”

The great news is that Cobrahead now have a distributor in Australia, so you can easily get your hands on one, unlike me who travelled to the USA to get mine. https://blog.cobrahead.com/2024/06/28/cobrahead-tools-now-available-in-australia-and-new-zealand/

Felco Secateurs (Model F-2)

Always in my back pocket are my trusty old Felco Secateurs. Pruning is essential for healthy plant growth, and Felco secateurs are the gold standard in cutting tools. Made in Switzerland, the Felco F-2 is renowned for its precision, strength and longevity. The hardened steel blades cut cleanly through stems and branches up to 1 inch thick. The aluminum handles are lightweight yet sturdy, with a comfortable, cushioned grip. What sets Felco apart is its fully replaceable parts, allowing gardeners to keep their favourite pair in working condition for decades. I can always find them in a bucket filled with green waste too, because they’re bright red! https://www.bunnings.com.au/felco-2-original-secateurs_p3358858?srsltid=AfmBOorsnh0UqkOvS23DI-eoKAD_N3uA2EDgGbu4KEi_E_vTeC-GQwq_

Dramm Rain Wand

Watering efficiently and gently is key to a healthy garden, and the Dramm Rain Wand excels at both. Its 30-inch length gives you extended reach, while the soft-touch watering head mimics a gentle rain, protecting delicate seedlings and blossoms. The thumb-controlled valve allows precise water flow with minimal effort, reducing hand fatigue. Built from durable aluminum and designed for everyday use, the Dramm Rain Wand is a favourite among professionals who need reliable, gentle watering tools. These come in the hottest bright colours so even your garden tools will look well put together and co-ordinated.https://botanex.com.au/products/dramm-30-touch-n-flow-rain-wand-watering-tool-berry

Ezy Storage 60L Flexi Bucket

Probably the least expensive item in my gardening kit. Every gardener needs a reliable container for collecting weeds, carrying soil or transporting tools. The Ezy Storage 60-litre Flexi Bucket is lightweight, flexible, and tough enough for heavy-duty work. Its large capacity makes it perfect for hauling compost, mulch or garden debris. The dual handles make it easy to lift and carry—even when full—and it can be squashed down for compact storage when not in use. It’s a versatile tool that gets a thorough workout in my garden. I use it to dunk every plant before planting a soloution fo Seasol and Powerfeed mixed together. I dunk the entire pot into the bucket of water and seaweed solution, until all the bubbles are gone and then take the plant out of the pot before planting it into the ground.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/ezy-storage-42l-assorted-colour-square-flexi-storage-tubs_p0216616?srsltid=AfmBOoo0hzVQ78jppZFpi0DQpHB0oWaNKP85pFxOw7YxW9lncnOlcc3e

DeWit Planting Trowel

Made in the Netherlands, DeWit tools are celebrated for their craftsmanship, and the DeWit Planting Trowel is no exception. Its sharp, hand-forged steel blade and durable ash-wood handle make it ideal for digging precise planting holes, cutting through roots, and transplanting with ease. The trowel’s unique design combines the functionality of a standard trowel with the strength of a hand spade, making it perfect for gardeners who want both finesse and power in one tool. I have had one of these for years and honestly it never fails. The blade remains sharp and can cut through the densest roots. Built with a wooden handle that fits into my hand perfectly, my hand never gets sore using this. https://europeantoolsaustralia.com/collections/dewit/products/garden-trowel


These five tools—each known for quality, comfort, and effectiveness—will elevate your gardening experience and help you maintain a thriving, beautiful outdoor space. Investing in the right tools is the first step toward a healthier garden and a happier you. If you need further advice get in touch here.

What tool features in your ‘She Shed’ that you just can’t garden without?

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