“The rose and the thorn, and sorrow and gladness are linked together.”
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…
The Autumn Rose Garden
“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…
“At the heart of gardening there is a belief in the miraculous.”
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…
“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…
“Success and failure, triumph and disaster. That is the rhythm of life in the garden.”
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…
“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”
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.…
A new year is simply the turn of a calendar page — and a beautiful chance for us to turn over a new leaf.
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…
Christmas is the day that holds all time together.
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…
“Hope is one of the essential tools of a farmer or gardener.”
“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…
“The hum of bees is the voice of the garden”
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…
Carla Fineschi rose garden
“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,…
“And the shower of roses spun around me, inviting me to take part in their ever-present waltz.”
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…
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller”.
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’ve always felt that having a garden is like having a good and loyal friend. ”
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…
I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I work in the garden.
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…
Who killed the Lady of Shalott?
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,…
“Oh, no man knows through what wild centuries roves back the rose”.
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…
The Joy of a Well Designed Garden
“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…
“Life is itself a school, and nature always a fresh study.”
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…
“Perhaps optimism is a rosy interpretation of the facts, or perhaps optimism is a factual interpretation of the rose.”
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…
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow”
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,…
“Every spring, like it or not, we are all beginners, all over again.”
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…
Giardino della Gherardesca
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.…
“In search of my mother’s garden, I found my own.”
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.…
You don’t have to garden to garden.
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…
Everything in the garden is rosy
“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…
The Wild Rose
“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…
Heirloom Roses
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…
It was roses, roses all the way.
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,…
A Green Thumb
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…
Hand in Glove
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…
Spring is nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!”
“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…
A Country Garden
“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…
My French Garden
“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…
The Perfumed Garden
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…
Love Lavender
‘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…
Gardens to visit- Al ru farm
“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…
Carla Fineschi Rose Garden
“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,…
Living in the Bush
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…
Antonio Canova Gipsoteca
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…
How To Grow A Rose Garden
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 is the most famous and popular Rose of all time”
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…
The Romance of the Rose
“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.…
The Lady Of Shalott?
“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…
Rosa Aspirin
“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…
Monstera deliciosa
On trend at present and almost ubiquitous in design and decor magazines, homemaker stores and lifestyle TV shows, is the classic, indoor plant, Monstera Deliciosa. It is not a rose,…
Gardens Of the Architect
“THE greatest piece of gardening in the world is a little staircase in the Generalife,” Russell Page The gardens of the Generalife Spain in Arabic are ‘Jinnah al-Arif’ which means…
The earth laughs in flowers.
I happened to be away from my garden for just four days this week. Returning, I found that Spring has triumphed sending out masses of blooms all around the garden.…
Spring, Roses and Dust
Spring is here that wonderful time of the year when gardens come into their own and the colours entice us to spend more time outdoors. The signs of new growth…
Modern Roses
“A garden is a complex of aesthetic and plastic intentions; and the plant is, to a landscape artist, not only a plant – rare, unusual, ordinary or doomed to disappearance…
The Palm Garden
What continues to astonish me about a garden is that you can walk past it in a hurry, see something wrong, stop to set it right, and emerge an hour…
Fragrance always clings to the hand that gives roses
Spring is here although in some areas the season has been slow in starting with unusually cold, frosty mornings contrasting with high daytime temperatures. Patience is needed, as I wait…
Colour my World
What colour is in a picture, enthusiasm is in life Vincent Van Gogh Yes, I am addicted to roses, I admit it. My mother too, loved her garden in the…
Rustic Charm
What makes gardening so enthralling is you can become the Queen of your own private Kingdom. You can create your own particular dream, working within the parameters of what you…
Delbard Painters Collection
“What I need most of all are flowers, always, always.” Claude Monet, 1840-1926 Impressionist painter and life-long gardener The great Impressionists painters emerged in 1870’s France. Known for rejecting the…
Pink Champagne Rose
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” Anais Nin, 1903-1977 Imagine Pink Champagne in…
The name of a rose
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet. Unexpectedly, an added bonus of loving roses is learning the history of roses,…
Thrillers spillers and fillers
“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.” —Claude Monet I love gardens made in pots and containers. Whether you have room for a small or a larger garden or have…
Vallee des Roses Morocco
There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence.Ralph Waldo Emerson El-Kelaa M’Gouna Rose Festival in Morocco Have you ever wondered where all the roses…
Jardin Remarquable in Epernay
Walking around Epernay along L’Avenue de Champagne we came across the Town Hall that sits within the lush greenery of an enchanting French Garden. It is part of the Remarquable…
Le Pigonnet -A garden where Cezanne wandered…
In Aix en Provence quite close to the town centre there is a beautiful Hotel, called Le Pigonnet from the French word Pigeonniere ( Pigeon House) . We fortunately were…
The Garden at Billecart-Salmon
Arriving at BilleCart Salmon in the Champagne -Ardenne region of France, I was in awe of the beautiful à la française jardin or The French Garden that surrounded the Champagne…
