Photos from a rose garden

While I was on holiday over Christmas, my mum and I visited the Timaru Botanic Gardens, and took a stroll through the rose garden. The roses were all blooming beautifully and smelled gorgeous. We also walked through the fernery (the scroll patterned door above) and through the scented herb garden. You can see the cutout in the hedge that leads to the herb garden in the first photo. I wish my garden was big enough for a hedge with cutouts. I'd also like some of these scented roses, but of course I didn't write down any names.

Snow and sand

Ok, well as you can see it did happen! Snow hit on Wednesday and made a big cold mess. I managed to get away before it got too heavy and drove south where eventually it cleared, the sun came out and it was a nice (but cold) winters day.

My poor garden looks quite sad now. The dahlias are soggy black stems and many shrubs and bushes have been flattened. The peppers and chillis that had remained are piles of mush, but the cauliflowers have survived and I even picked the first one of the season today.

I spent a few days spending time with family in Timaru after visiting Dunedin for a funeral. A sad time but nice to catch up with people. Caroline Bay was almost empty on a sunny afternoon, which is my favourite way to find a beach... peaceful, serene, beautiful.

Today was cold and everywhere I went (supermarket, butcher's etc) people were talking about more snow. I'm not listening though... if I don't hear it it won't happen... I'll stick my fingers in my ears... lalalala.

Real Gardens #2

Jean and Graeme Holwell's Timaru garden might be small, but it is packed full of delightful plants and tiny treasures. On a sunny morning in early spring, mounds of green leaves are unfurling and buds are beginning to swell.

Everywhere you turn, there is something new and beautiful to see, like this little patch of crocus.

Even the street verge is beautifully maintained, with a patch of yellow polyanthus welcoming you to the garden.

This is a garden of contrasts, both in shape and texture. The path, formed of round concrete stepping stones and flanked by brilliant blue pansies, leads you towards the back of the property.

On the way you'll pass this clever bird bath. It's made from a saucer mounted on a piece of driftwood.

And end up at the pergola, which looks like a beautiful place to sit in on a warm summer's evening. There's even room for a small vegetable garden beside it.

The round stepping stones continue around the back of the house, where the rubbish bins, washing line and even a worm farm are tucked away.

Looking down, I noticed more lovely textures in the form of these groundcover plants scrambling over the round stones.

Here is a clever way of keeping tabs on tiny plants that die down over winter... a little bowl made of rocks. This must look so sweet filled up with little alpine flowers.

I hope you've been inspired by this tour - proof that you don't need a huge section to grow all your favourite flowers and plants. I'll be keeping an eye out for round stepping stones, and probably building a couple of rocky bowls for my cyclamen!

A big thank you to Jean and Graeme for letting me wander through your garden.

Beautiful Nature

Nature dealt us a doozy of a blow last week. She is now redeeming herself with warm and lovely spring days, gentle overnight rain, lush growth (particularly of the lawn and weed variety), and a general air of promise and hope.

I went to Timaru last weekend. The trip, to visit with family and friends, was already planned, but the timing ended up being perfect for a much needed break from the city of shakes. Travelling south, the road was flanked with camellias, forsythias and glorious magnolias. Front yard gardens overflowed with the brightness and exuberance of spring - daffodils, flowering cherries, aubretia, primroses and blossoming hedges of all descriptions. I took quick snapshots from the windows of the car, both for inspiration's sake and to try and take something fleeting and hold onto it forever. Spring passes too quickly.

I also took some photos for a new feature that will soon debut on this blog. It will be a monthly feature called Real Gardens, and will profile real people's gardens: beautiful gardens, of course, but real - gardens with washing lines, compost bins, cats and car parks. My aim is to show how real people deal with all of these real needs and assimilate them into a beautiful liveable outdoor space. I'll be gleaning inspiration and ideas for my own garden, and I hope you'll be inspired too. Check back next week for the first installment!

(The photo at the top is my heliotrope which I put in the glasshouse to overwinter. It's thriving in the warmth, and filling the glasshouse with it's vanilla fragrance.)

Holiday week

Last week I had a much needed week off. I spent most of the time with my mum - as we live in separate towns we don't often get to catch up and do things like go shopping or go out for coffee, so we decided to do as much of that as possible in one week. By the end of it, I was all shopped out and had eaten enough sweet things to last me the rest of the year (or so I thought yesterday - I still managed to force down a gingernut for afternoon tea today though!)

Food and shopping will come in the next couple of posts, but in the meantime here are a few photos from the first two days, which we spent in Timaru.

Timaru sunrise - taken from the window of my dad and stepmum's house. I thought how pretty and misty it all looked, but realised later that the mist is probably smoke from people's fireplaces (it was a completely still morning, and very cold at minus 2 - brr!)

From the same window but another direction.

Caroline Bay. The haze was still there, as was a strange pinky/gold glow in the sky. It was like sunrise, but at 10.30 in the morning!

They have put a new fountain in a the Bay. It's an ostentatious, Victorian monstrosity covered with mermaids, twin-finned merbabies and a cherub riding some kind of seahorse. I love it!

Even on a grey chilly day.

The lovely mermaids seem to be wearing frilly skirts of some kind. They don't seem to mind the water dripping in their faces, but I bet they are looking forward to summer and a bit of sunshine on their tails.

As am I! We were quite lucky with the weather though and that was the only grey day - the rest were sunny and warm, and were a welcome reminder that spring is not too far away.