This is the first day of winter and this is the first planting guide of the season. The following is a list of vegetables that you can plant in June in Sydney, a temperate zone (just click on the link for the growing guide for each vegetable).

• Beans – broad beans
• Cabbage seedlings
• Garlic
• Kale seedlings
• Lettuce
• Mustard greens
• Onion
• Peas
• Radish
• Snow Peas
• Strawberry plants

Plant of the Month – The cheery Cape Daisy – (Osteospermum ecklonis)

The long flowering perennial, Cape Daisy is a vigorous and free flowering plant suited to beds and borders as well as pots.  The bright daisy like single flowers appear over a long period.

The plant grows to a height and spread of 50 cm and has a compact form.

Osteospermum ecklonis will flower almost year round in good conditions, however Summer is the main flowering time.

It prefers a sunny situation and a well drained soil or potting mix that is enriched with compost or slow release fertiliser.

Deadhead to promote more flowers, and prune back in early spring to maintain a good bushy plant.

A note for pot cultivation: the soil should not be allowed to dry out completely as the plant will go into a flowering hibernation in an effort to survive the period of drought, dropping buds and then not easily return to flowering. If overwatered after drying out the roots are susceptible to rotting.

Cape daisy is susceptible to powdery mildew so avoid watering leaves. It is also mildly frost tender.

This sun loving plant brings colour to your garden or balcony and flowers profusely in good conditions.

This popular species has been in culture since about 1920.