Our Garden

I am excited to be moving in the next few months to a new house but I will miss my garden ( but not all the hard work ) . My garden is just starting to come to life with spring and I wanted to capture some memories so I can look back at all the plants and design that took some 16 years in the making .

A mish mash of bulbs - the upright bulbs came from my beloved Aunty Pearl`s garden and she has been gone for some 30 years .

Magnolias are amongst my favourite trees - I will definitely plant some in my new garden but it will take a long time before it looks like this. There is a self sown echium off to  the left. I also really love maples and viburnums. I love dogwoods too and planted a genuine Canadian Dogwood but our harsh Australian summers were just too much and it curled up its toes .Living on tank water I can not afford to water too many plants here - they have to be drought resistant and tough .

 

This is a part of my Japanese inspired garden. I have divided my garden into `rooms` - there is the native section, a woodland garden ( with small fairy statues hidden - I must try to find them before we leave ) , the japanese garden, a perennial section , herb garden, citrus area  and `secret` garden ( it has a pergola with a seat underneath - concealed by lots of climbers and shrubs and looks toward the valley and mountains to the south ) . The gardens all blend into each other.

 

This is a part of my perennial garden which is only just starting to bloom. I love the smell of wall flowers - like Johnsons Baby Powder and they must be the easiest plants to grow from cuttings. I also have lots of salvias , some lavenders , lilies , catmints, penstemons  and irises here. I tend to love pinks , purples and whites with small splashes of red and yellow .

 This is the herb garden - I have parsley, spring onions, pizza thyme ( I like the flavour  better than common thyme, ) varigated oregano, a spindly savory bush , curry plant , chives, garlic chives , a potted bay tree, a so called dwarf rosemary bush ( hah ! dwarf if you regularly prune it ! ) and a moroccan mint ( sweeter than common mint and not invasive at all ). There are sporadic cat mints as a border and self seeded feverfews and some decorative roses  ( although I have toyed with the idea of making rose petal jam ).

My Irises and the main rose garden ( and the good old washing line )  - the irises are starting to come out. Again irises are one of my favourite plants - they give so much for little return. I am torn about my roses - most of them I have obtained by cuttings or gifts . However everytime I go near them they spike me- should I take cuttings or do I just leave them. Off the side is a  part of the native garden - mainly indigenous natives but there a couple of ring- ins as well.

Well this is just a portion of my garden. I really bit off more than I could chew in making it .
Hope everyone is having a good day.
Cheers Janine.