Barbara Pintozzi

Autumn-beautiful trees There are so many trees that provide wonderful colour at this time of the year. Some have berries for the birds to enjoy, such as the many crab apple varieties, including Malus ‘Butterball’, for example, which has gorgeous golden fruits that glow in the light, and Malus ‘Evereste’ (pictured). Other trees have wonderful leaf colour, such as the katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), whose dropped leaves, some say, develop the lovely smell of candy floss or burnt sugar.

1. Plant garlic The shortest day of the year (June 22) is traditionally marked by planting garlic, and the longest day (December 22) for harvesting your crop. These dates are not fixed in stone, but are a good guide as to best planting times. There are two main types of garlic: soft-neck (Allium )and hard-neck (). The latter is the better type for cooler climates. Two hard-neck varieties commonly available in Australia are ‘Australian White’ and ‘Purple Stripe’.

If your holiday season is anything like mine used to be, it’s lots of fun but hardly relaxing. Our holidays involve party hosting and potluck meal prepping, gift shopping and wrapping, school and work events, and of course the ever-busy jobs. Since most members of my family and my husband’s live locally, we have multiple get-togethers to attend. On top of that, we want to be sure we have quality time with just our two daughters. Sound like a lot to juggle? It is.