– Centre front in my mind and heart over the last few months are my roses. Living in isolation in a rural environment is quite usual although not quite so…
If unexpected self isolation can teach us anything, it is to be grateful for simple things that perhaps we sometimes take for granted. Our personal freedom, our health and our…
“One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. Autumn is my favourite season of the garden year. Many days and nights lately, I have…
Miracles do happen as Mirabel Osler once said in the quote above and my garden is testament to this. When I first glimpsed the destruction from the ravage of January…
“There is no gardening without humility, an assiduous willingness to learn and a cheerful readiness to confess you were mistaken. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the…
Like a beautiful new rose bud the new decade begins. But it is a sombre morning today to wake to the shock of the plight of thousands of people in…
Water As the year closes and mid summer moves on the roses in the garden need some care and attention if you want the blooms to continue on into Autumn.…
It is customary in Australia to ring in the New Year with the excitement of fireworks, parties, friends and champagne but also the good intentions of new year resolutions. I…
All we need in Australia this year for Christmas is RAIN. Apart from wishing for rain my hope is that everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and…
“You have to have a sense of humility when you grow plants-never forget that nature is in charge” Sebastion Bras How could we ever forget that nature is in charge…
Summer is upon us and the days are becoming extremely hot so that my time in the garden is earlier and earlier in the morning. No use leaving watering and…
“But he that dares not grasp the thorn, should never crave the rose” Anne Bronte Our long awaited day to visit the Rosa Botanica -Carla Fineschi Gardens in Cavriglia Italy,…
It would be lovely if the sentiment expressed in today’s quote was the reality in the garden now but the roses are still not as prolific as anticipated. There are…
My love of travel and exploring the world is quite a contradiction to that of growing a rose garden. So how can I bring them together in my life and…
I love inspiring quotes. At times I’ll come across a quote that rings so true to me and is exactly the sentiment I had thought of but not quite been…
Gardening is a means by which you can attain many valuable hours of solitude without being thought of as unsociable. John Erskine Isn’t that the truth? The allure of a…
The Summer glow that radiates from The Lady Of Shalott Rose is one of the reasons it is my favorite rose. The colours are rich, in shades of deep apricot,…
As Mirabel Osler once said When I first began with roses, moving into that vast territory of scent, form and colour. I knew nothing. Likewise neither did I, and now…
“Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers — and never succeeding.” Marc Chagall, 1887-1985 Think like an artist when designing a garden and use the…
It’s pretty tough in the garden at the moment even though the cold and frosty days of winter have been replaced by the colour and fragrance of Spring. We have…
What have I been up to in my garden in recent days as I move forward with optimism through the gorgeous Spring season? There are many new roses this year…
In almost every garden, the land is made better and so is the gardener. Robert Rodale When I reflect on the past few years of growing a new rose garden,…
Perfect blooms in the garden this season are scarce because I’ve had a few setbacks. The roses are not looking good at all. Growing roses definitely has its up and…
In between the 15th century Palazzo della Gherardesca and the “Conventino”, a 16th century Palazzo, which was once a convent is an 11 acre botanical garden in the Renaissance city of Florence.…
I love the quote above from Alice Walker the American writer and author of ‘The Colour Purple’. It resonates with me and encapsulates so much in just a few words.…
Gardening in the mind is a gentle vice with an impetus of its own Mirabel Osler What gardener hasn’t dreamt of the possibilities of a new garden and lost themselves…
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.” Anne Bradstreet, 1612-1672, I am enjoying the changeable weather of Spring, including the early morning and evening cool…
“To contemplate roses is to punctuate one’s days with poetry.” Wild Roses are also called Species roses. Roses native to the Northern hemisphere and considered to be the roses that…
Roses exude charm and beauty but why are there so many different types and where did they originate? Today I’m uncovering the mystery of rose classes and what is meant…
The sentiment in the Robert Browning quote in the title could easily have been written about David Austin the English rose Breeder who, with his team in Shropshire United Kingdom,…
My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant’s point of view. Evidently the idiom having a ‘green…
This week I had the joy of working in the garden, hand in glove with one of my son’s. Our main task was to mulch the garden in preparation for…
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” Spring has begun and the garden sings…
“In all the recipes for happiness I have ever seen, ‘something to look forward to’ has been given as an important ingredient. Something to look forward to! How rich the…
“The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to…
Today is about the perfume and scent of roses…. It is a golden maxim to cultivate the garden for the nose, and the eyes will take care of themselves. Robert…
‘As Rosemary is to the Spirit, so Lavender is to the Soul,’ Anonymous I love growing lavender in the garden. When I walk down the front path my legs brush…
“Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas.” -Elizabeth Murray If you love Gardens then Al ru Farm at One…
“But he that dares not grasp the thorn, should never crave the rose” Anne Bronte Our long awaited day to visit the Rosa Botanica -Carla Fineschi Gardens in Cavriglia Italy,…
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication – Leonardo de Vinci Over the last decade or so it has become apparent to me, that our Australian Dream has changed. Rather than the…
Giardino in Passagno These lovely, pastel pink blooms are from the Giardino at the Gipsoteca in Italy. The gipsoteca means ‘the plasterworks’ and is where the Antonio Canova museum is…
We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. – Abraham Lincoln Across the world The Rose symbolises an expression of beauty, love, hope,…
The Peace Rose has soft yellow flowers that fade to blush-pink at the tips. The blooms are large and double and have a light fragrance. The Peace rose repeat flowers…
“To grasp the nettle” – to tackle a problem with bravery I have vivid childhood memories of growing up in a beachside location with my parents who were keen gardeners.…
“I am half-sick of shadows,’ said The Lady of Shalott.” ― Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott Lady Of Shalott is one of my most favourite Roses. The colour…
“Aspirin is so good for roses, brandy for sweet peas, and a squeeze of lemon-juice for the fleshy flowers, like begonias”. Gerald Durrell. The Aspirin Rose is a Floribunda Patio…
Winter has struggled to take a firm hold this year. The usual severity of the white, crisp frost has been light around the garden this winter ( so far) The…
