Geraldine Garden Tours Part 1

 A couple of weeks ago I got to do some garden tours as part of the Geraldine Arts & Plants festival. I love garden tours that feature real people's gardens, not just show gardens, as I find them the most inspiring for ideas to use at home. Would you like to see what tickled my fancy this time?

I like this secluded patio, above, almost hidden behind the exuberant planting. 

 Here's another sweet little patio, tucked away at the end of a garden under a shade tree. The trimmed hedges finish the space off perfectly.

 I like this sheltered garden room. The heuchera makes a striking edging.

 Hand painted garden signs add whimsy (essential to every good garden).

 I love the pastel mix of these aquilegias.

 I've never seen ixias this colour before! They are extremely striking when backlit by the evening sun.

 Wooden sleepers create terraces next to the fence. This would be a good way to display tiny alpines, or create a rambling miniature garden!

 Spot the birdhouse... or maybe at this level it's a hedgehog house!

 I'm not a fan of flax. But this cream striped leaf is gorgeous...

 This house was not part of the official garden tour, but it's on a main street and has no fence so I stopped and had a look from the kerb. Such a beautiful cottage garden.

 Maybe one day my front garden will look like this!

I like how they've even planted the street light!

The gardeners we met were so friendly and nice. One man even gave me a tweedia seedling that he'd grown, which I was quite excited about as I haven't seen it for sale at the garden centres. I also went shopping at the markets and got some succulents, geraniums and a couple of peonies, so I'm inspired to add and improve my own garden! If only the weather would cooperate. Well, at least rain and cool temperatures mean good conditions for planting.

That's it for Part 1! I still have pictures from the second day of garden tours, so pop back in a couple of days to see those! Have any of the ideas here inspired you?