As the summer heat intensifies across the capital, renowned gardening columnist Jackie French has issued a simple, one-word piece of advice for green-thumbed Canberrans this week: don't.
In her final column for the year, published on December 24, 2025, French argues that with temperatures so severe they have literally cooked melon seedlings in semi-shade, the only legitimate gardening activity is watering. The rest of your duty is to simply enjoy the fruits of your labour and the unique sensory pleasures of a midsummer garden.
Embrace the Scents and Flavours of Summer
French encourages gardeners to turn their focus from work to enjoyment. One of the key joys she highlights is the evocative scent of water on hot earth. She suggests turning on the hose, waiting a moment, and simply breathing in that quintessential summer perfume.
This week is for harvesting and sharing. She advises passing surplus plums to neighbours before fruit fly strike and treating friends to the true, intense flavour of homegrown apricots, a world away from the damp-sponge texture of cold-stored fruit. It's also the time to enjoy early zucchini crops, picked tiny with the flower still attached for gourmet treats.
French notes that mid-summer heat actually amplifies garden fragrances, as oils in leaves and flowers evaporate. Even without perfumed flowers, the scent of green growth, bark, or a single rosemary bush can fill the air. Every garden in Canberra has its own signature scent at this time of year, she writes, urging people to get out and appreciate it.
A Week for Gentle Boasting and Wildlife Watching
For French, this is also the perfect time for gentle boasting through generous giving. Presenting friends with giant bunches of zinnias, dahlias, or Christmas lilies, or a gift of colourful chard or those tiny zucchinis, speaks louder than words.
She also touches on the challenges of a shared garden ecosystem. With a menagerie of native and feral visitors, from possums and wombats to 127 species of birds, identifying the culprit of midnight feasts becomes a detective game. The key clue? Look for the dung.
French provides a quick guide: rabbits leave small grassy pellets, kangaroos leave larger ones, and wombats leave distinctive square droppings in dry times. Knowing who dung it offers little consolation for a lost orange, but it solves the mystery.
Reflections on a Weird Growing Season
The columnist reflects on the unusual conditions of the current summer, describing it as both too hot and too cool. Her tomato plants are behind schedule, with fruit only just setting, and blood plums that have reliably ripened in the third week of December for 75 years are still waiting.
Despite the odd weather, her garden is still producing. She is picking finger limes, out-of-season Tahitian limes, winter oranges, Eureka lemons, and avocados saved for the holidays. A battle with a determined possum, dubbed Possum X, over parsley has led to more strategic planting.
Her final prescription for the week is simple. This week it's your duty to sit and laugh with friends and family, human or animal, or simply to enjoy the view. It's a time to remember why you have a garden in the first place – for relaxation, beauty, and connection. For those seeking ultimate cool, she recommends taking a cushion to the creek, sitting with feet in the water, and toasting the garden with a glass in hand.
