50 Gardens in one Month It isn’t often you can say you have visited over 50 gardens in one month, but this November that is what I did. Well, if I’m completely honest – a few were in the very tail end of October and one of the gardens was mine, so the exact tally is a little hazy, but it was all part of … Continue reading Latest post: 50 Gardens in one Month
I’ve been away again. But the best kind of away. I put on one of my favourite hats to do my job as a Botanical Tour Guide for Botanica World Discoveries. I hosted a bus load of garden tourists across New Zealand over two back-to-back tours. Firstly, it was the NZ Taranaki Garden Spectacular and Private Gardens Tour followed by the NZ Private Gardens and … Continue reading I’ve been away again.
Birthday weekend I am super blessed to have my birthday at the best possible time for a gardener. This weekend was Labour Weekend which is also the last frost date and it is safe for planting out the summer garden in my area. It is a moveable holiday and can vary by up to a week, so extra caution and common sense needs to be … Continue reading Birthday weekend
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My ‘Did-dah’ moment I have been working on a project for a very long time. When I say working on it, I mean thinking about it. And when I say thinking about it, it is more of a guilt induced frenzy full of woulda, coulda and shoulda. I thought making the family give it to me as a Mother’s Day present would make it happen … Continue reading My ‘Did-dah’ moment
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ONE WEEK OF WINTER LEFT This year has whizzed by, and the fun is about to start. There is a lot of anticipation and expectation this season, probably more so than ever after the disappointment of last time. There was just too much rain. My hope that things will be different this year is due to the shift from a soggy La Nina to a … Continue reading One week of winter left
The great reset …once I finish coughing! This year has been really light on the gardening – it has been maintained but that is about it. The combination of a horribly wet start to the year curtailed most gardening efforts because I wasn’t in a hurry to garden in torrential rain and working with sodden soil is never a good idea. The other thing was … Continue reading The great reset…
I am determined not to moan about the weather this year, but to be honest it leaves me no choice. We got home on the 4th of Jan, and it has done nothing but rain or be gloomy and bleak. To be fair yesterday was nice and today was nice-ish, but the weather is closing in as cyclone Hale is heading our way. Hopefully it … Continue reading Caught between two storms
In the Northern Hemisphere, the opportunity for a fresh start seems to make more sense. It is the middle of winter, and everything is dormant or done and as the year gets going things wake up or are restarted. Here, down under, we are in the swing of things. My garden is full, as is my life. I couldn’t be busier, but we take a … Continue reading A new start?
Today is the longest day and finally I have something to be joyful about. The weather seems to have turned. It is sunny and warm; the sky is blue and the cicadas are singing. Now that is kind of summer I’ve been looking for. The garden is bursting into life. The plants are putting out tender new leaves, accentuating their old weather weary leaves that … Continue reading Joy in the garden
Coming back to the garden after such a long time out of it feels weird. It isn’t helped by the weather. We are just three days away from the start of the meteorological summer and to be honest it feels like the early days of spring. Instead of slowly raising the temperatures and increasing the sunshine, the season seems to be stuck in some kind … Continue reading This is not what I was expecting
