ORIGINS OF THE FARM Following the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II, many farmers were destitute and unable to produce sufficient food for the enormous influx of refugees. In 1951, Hong Kong businessman Lord Lawrence Kadoorie and his brother Sir Horace Kadoorie, formed an
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Like most people, I have a garden full of plants given to me by friends and neighbours. They are all very special. Some years ago I went on an outing to the home of Laurel Phillips, a life-member of our local garden club at Blackheath, in the
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Because much of my garden is in at least semi-shade I grow lots of the shade-loving ground-cover ajuga. Its bronze foliage contrasts well with silver grey lambs ears or dusty miller. It will thrive in the most challenging of locations. After good spring rain recently the
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Like most Australians the ubiquitous Weber bar-b-que was part of my life for many years. And yes, it even produced our Christmas turkey on a couple of occasions. But somehow we lost our passion for bar-b-ques
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WARNING…..INCLUDES CONFRONTING SPIDER PICTURE! It wasn’t until my friend Dianne told me about her battle to get rid of ivy in her new garden that I realized my own ivy problem had become super-serious. Stupidly, I had deliberately spread the variegated variety around. I’d considered it more
Read more →My garden in the chilly Blue Mountains has acid soil, which is why I grow azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas…..and daphnes. At last count I had nine…..sorry, ten. What could be better than a shrub that flowers in mid winter and has one of the most heavenly
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‘Hello Possums!’ has long been Dame Edna Everidge’s affectionate greeting to her audience. They are definitely very cute….in their place! Once my husband and I awoke before dawn to the tinkling of glassware and thought a burglar was making off with our crystal goblets. We
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Below is a photo taken in 1933, during the Great Depression. It is a Christmas lily farm at Pennant Hills, in New South Wales. The farm produced 100,000 cut flowers for the Australian florist trade that year. It seems that Christmas lilies are
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SCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR LATEST UPDATE! My guardian Pauline Conolly grew a special rose called Hot Chocolate. ‘Come and smell it Des’ she said. So I did, just to make her happy. I took a deep breath of
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ALWAYS CARRY A CAMERA Owning a small ‘point and shoot’ camera has transformed the way I look at and appreciate my Blue Mountains garden. The play of light, the beauty of a detail suddenly observed. It means that my ‘matron’s rounds’ are slower, but they are also
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