From the Garden with Margaret Wilson from Pacifica Garden Centre

With daylight saving now behind us, hopefully we'll still get some of the lovely Indian summer days to make up for the dismal ‘real' summer that nature delivered.

This is an excellent time to take cuttings of roses and most perennials. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and you can find detailed instructions in any good gardening guide or on the internet. By spring you should have some good-sized plants ready to brighten up your spring and summer borders.

If you're looking for some interesting colour through winter, you could do a lot worse than plant some members of the grevillea family – a gift from our Aussie neighbours. There are types for virtually any open and sunny situation. From large shrubs to ground covers and wall spillers, they thrive on neglect but respond well to a bit of judicious pruning.

A couple of Vireya Rhododendrons are in flower in my garden now and the wonderful thing about them is that they will flower two or three times again in the next year. Great value for your gardening dollar. Vireyas are tropical Rhododendrons and don't have extensive root systems so adapt very well to containers. A morning sun or dappled shade situation suits them very well and an occasional light dressing of a pelleted fertiliser suitable for acid-loving plants is all the feeding they require – but don't allow them to dry out in summer.

Winter is coming so let us enjoy John Keats' ode to autumn: 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” while we may.