Vegetables
By now, cooler areas may well have had a touch of frost but in all regions carrots, being cold-tolerant, can be left in the ground until August, then lifted and heeled into the soil.
Lettuce can be sown from now until early April in gardens with suitable conditions for growing them over the winter.
Select hardy types - the heritage French variety Rouge d'Hiver is among the best - and grow them under cloches or in large pots on a sunny porch.
Autumn-sown lettuces need well-drained soil, rich in compost.
Adding coarse river sand will help lighten heavy soils.
Sow seed sparingly in rows 25cm to 30cm apart and press the soil gently but firmly.
Onions can be sown now to stand over the winter and autumn sowing is best in the South for the likes of Pukekohe Long Keeper.
Select an open, sunny place, adding well-rotted compost.
Onions do well in well-limed soils, so add dolomite lime to areas where onions are to be grown.
Runner beans will produce until frosted.
Covering them at night will help delay the inevitable and if basil and other tender herbs and vegetables are grown nearby, a large frost cloth can cover the entire area and prolong harvesting.
Regular watering or liquid manure applications will ensure the maximum bean crop, as will picking them as soon as they are ready to eat.
Small is definitely beautiful in this case and avoids the unpleasant stringiness that puts many people off these nutritious vegetables.
At this stage in their growth, cauliflowers and celery also respond to feeding and watering if the weather is dry.
Cauliflowers reaching maturity should have their outside leaves turned over, protecting the curds from sunshine and preserving their whiteness.
Derris dust will keep white butterflies from attacking cauliflowers and other brassicas, as will planting pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerarifolium) in the same plot.
Sweet corn should be harvested at the milk stage and tastes best when the cobs are cooked within a few hours of harvesting.
Flowers
This is the month to plant bulbs for spring displays.
Making excellent companions for daffodils are old-fashioned, sweet-scented red-brown wallflowers planted beside a late-flowering variety of daffodil.
Purple violas also look good with late-flowering daffodils.
Southern gardeners have it over their northern counterparts when it comes to tulips for these hardy bulbs prefer winters that chill them thoroughly and are intolerant of humid conditions.
They like a sunny spot and can be left for years, although lifting them when the foliage dies down is recommended.
Tulips look best when planted in patches of eight or 10.
Careful selection of bulbs will give flowers over a longer period.
Hide the soil and reduce weeding by planting pansies or forget-me-nots to complement your tulip display.
Crocus corms and Iris reticulata are seen better if planted along the edges of paths, while glory of the snow (Chionodoxa luciliae), snowdrops (Galanthus) and bluebells (Hyacinthoides) are good for rose beds or used to cover bare ground under trees.
Hyacinths and narcissi planned for bowls should be planted as soon as possible.
Set bulbs in potting mix, allowing 2.5cm space between them, and cover with mixture.
Water freely and stand in a cool, dark place (such as a cupboard) until shoots are about 2.5cm long.
Move bowls into a well-lit position and keep soil moist, although not waterlogged.
Polyanthus and primroses can be planted any time from now until the end of July, and will make a good show until September or October.
Rambling roses will have completed their flowering season and can now be pruned.
If there is plenty of new growth at ground level, cut off old branches that have borne flowers.
If new growth is scanty, simply remove worn or diseased wood and cut back faded flower trusses and seed hips.
A liberal dressing of compost or commercial rose fertiliser will encourage fresh growth next season.
Lawn grass seed will still germinate in most areas if sown this month or next.
Fruit
Tomatoes grown outdoors will be producing now and may need covering at night as a precaution against frost.
Reduce watering to encourage the crop to ripen before hard frosts kill the plants or ruin unripened fruit.
Remove any leaves shading the fruit clusters and pinch out the vigorous side shoots which can appear at this season.
Glasshouse tomatoes should be given the same treatment to keep them fruiting as long as possible.
