Hi Daniel you can grow all the above here no troubles at all and dont forget the roses,
mind you they dont flower all the time though, my Gerbera's are still budding
at present and usually start flowering around April and Dahlia start about late November
Carnations are suppose to grow here too but I have not grown them so cannot help there.
If you plant poppies after the rainy season late February they should flower before the Winter.
And how is your garden growing or should I say going Cheers....MM

Daniel, chrysanthemums will give you a couple of flowerings each year. If you grow roses, along with gladioli and Alstroemeria, along with Spring bulbs suitable for cutting, I think you should come close to having some colour year-round. A good stand-by is statice - it 'flowers' for absolutely ages.

Also, don't overlook foliage, for colour, texture and fill. Many of our natives take some beating in this category.

Thanks folks. Can you tell me...if I grow gladioli (and I really love them) how do you stop them falling over, short of staking and tying them all?

Hi Daniel,

Unfortunately, they do need support. I haven't grown gladdies for years for this very reason.

I used to grow them next to the chicken wire around the vegie garden and tie them to that.

You could use those thinner bamboo stakes; I think they are not so obvious in the garden.

My auntie used to have a 'picking garden' down the back beside her vegie garden. This way the somewhat unruly or untidy plants could still be grown without spoiling the more formal garden.

Cheers,
Dee.

Thanks Dee. I really love the gladdies but have the usual thing with them falling over. I now have about a dozen daffoldils flowering and they are beautiful. Bye, Daniel

Daniel, I recently read in an old garden magazine that planting them deeper helps to prevent them falling over.

I will have to give that a go - I wonder how deep I can plant them before it is too deep. Daniel

Hi again Daniel,
According to my sources 'deep' for gladi corms is a follows;
lge corms....15-16cm deep
med corms....10-13cm deep
sml corms....7-8cm deep
cormlets (baby corms)..5cm deep
If you have heavy soil go for the lesser depth.
Cheers,
Dee.