Honestly, blue wrens could take over my life if I didn’t keep strict control. I should really give them their full title; Superb Fairy Wrens (Maluras cyaneus). And yes, they are as delicate as fairies. Once I
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WHAT A STAR! I have the gentle climber Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminodes ) growing all around my garden (ten plants at last count). It is extremely hardy, and survives our Blue Mountains frosts and snowfalls without the slightest problem. In the photo below it is tumbling down
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Sometimes you see another person’s garden and think, ‘Oh my word, I think I’ll rip all my stuff out and create something like this …well try to anyway.’ This is how I feel about Helen Chadwick’s garden, just up the road from me. It is a little piece
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‘Could we please go somewhere without Des, Pauline?’ This pathetic plea came from Milly, who lives in the shade of her famous boyfriend, Editor Des. ‘Well of course we can Darling’, I said. I decided she might enjoy a walk to Campbell Rhododendron Garden in our Blue
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How very beautiful are old-fashioned aquilegias, or colombines. They are also known as granny’s bonnets. Bees love them. Here is an interesting piece on the plant’s name, published in 1927; A new explanation of the derivation of
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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You can never have too many paths within a garden, either. I love to have them winding everywhere. If my husband says I should get rid of one for some pragmatic reason I say ….. definitely not! Edna Walling, the Australian garden designer, once said that if your paths are
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CRIMSON ROSELLAS Crimson rosellas are a joy to behold. Many of the trees and shrubs in my Blue Mountains garden have been planted with these beautiful birds in mind. Top of the list? The native correas. The photo below shows that my efforts are appreciated!
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‘…in spring, the most delicate feathery yellow of plumes and plumes and plumes and trees and bushes of wattle, as if angels had flown right down out of the softest gold regions of heaven to settle here, in the Australian bush. D.H. Lawrence, Kangaroo
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Remember British artist and designer William Morris and his famous Strawberry Thief design? Those thrushes ended up in homes around the world. I’m sure Mr Morris forgave them for raiding his garden by the stripling Thames. I don’t grow strawberries, but I do have lots of
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