There are a few hardy plants that survive Summer’s baking heat, such as we’ve recently had down here. Some even flower on the hottest of days.

One of my favourites is Agapanthus, or ‘aggie’ as it’s colloquially known. While it belongs to the onion family, it doesn’t grow from a bulb but has fleshy roots. ‘Agape’ is Greek for ‘love’ and ‘anthos’ means flower. Loving this flower as I do, I think that’s the perfect name for it.

An import from South Africa, and discouraged in many parts of Australia because it’s a weed, the aggie needs beheading as soon as it’s flowered to stop it from dropping seeds where it shouldn’t and running rampant.

Some types of lavender are in flower right now, including Lavandula angustifolia, which flowers later than the varieties I posted about in Spring.

We only water our lavender plants once a week, or maybe twice if it’s really hot. A layer of compost around them at the start of Autumn and Spring keeps the soil open and free draining.

I once visited an open garden, just along the road, in which lavender, rosemary and aggies were mass planted to good effect.

After they’d visited the garden, some locals said they felt cheated. They wanted to see a different type of garden but instead they found it filled with the same plants that everyone else has. I liked it and thought it was a good way to fill a large garden where water’s in short supply. I could see their point, though.

Rosemary has been used as an aid to memory since Aristotle’s day. If you’re suffering from one too many ‘senior moments’, pick and crush a small sprig of rosemary and inhale its scent. Steer clear of sniffing it, though, if you’re pregnant, have high blood pressure or suffer from epilepsy: Rosemary is an anti-spasmodic.

Rosemary is reputed to aid memory and is worn on Anzac Day in memory of those who fell in war.

One Saturday morning in Spring, I was browsing the stalls at Wesley Hill Market, near Castlemaine, examining plant labels, when a very nice young man urged me to consider planting Westringia. He said he lived locally and he’d planted several and they’d all thrived during hot summers with minimal watering.

After such a glowing endorsement, how could I resist? Besides, he was very cute. I later wondered whether he was related to the elderly stall holders.

Westringia fruticosa, also known as ‘native rosemary’, produces small white flowers in Spring and in a massed planting it forms a compact hedge that can withstand a dearth of rainfall.

Summer is when thyme flowers and Summer is when time flowers. Forgive me for that poetic lapse.

Anyway, thyme is a herb that no dry climate garden should be without. It’s one of those ingredients that no kitchen should be without, either. Growing it is the best way to ensure you never run out at a crucial culinary moment.

I occasionally crush a stalk just to smell it. It’s a wonderfully aromatic accompaniment to lamb and chicken but my favourite is Pan Fried Haloumi with Thyme and Lemon. We’ve made it with lemon thyme, too, which adds an further piquant contrast to the saltiness of the cheese. With crusty bread, salad and chilled dry white wine, it’s a great Summer lunch and on its own it makes a crowd-pleasing entrée before dinner.

To me, Summer means gelato, iced coffee, watermelon, barbeques and long days of doing not very much at all. And the best place to be? In a shady spot in a country garden, watching the grapevine grow while sipping homemade lemonade.