As a Prelude .....

...... to some of the magnificent gardens we visited yesterday at the Bundanoon Garden Ramble, I thought I should post a few photos from my own garden first as they will fade into insignificance when compared to the nine delightful gardens open for display in the beautiful little town of Bundanoon, in the Southern Highlands south of Sydney. I took 165 photos of those gardens, so you can imagine how impressed I was. Of course, Richard took nearly as many.

I admire these irises not only for their lovely flowers but also for their hardiness. I dug them up from another garden about four years ago, left them in a cardboard box for nine months, until they looked like withered up corks, then planted them as I wanted to get rid of the box! They all grew and began flowering the second year.

This birdbath was given to us by our son-in-law's Swiss parents one Christmas. Alas, it became rusty and continually discoloured the water. Richard painted it with special bronze paint and it looks very handsome now in the garden - even more so when visited by our very tame magpie, Rossini.

Wordsworth wrote about "a field of golden daffodils", but I don't know if anyone has waxed lyrical about "a garden of Californian poppy escapees"? But they are beautiful just the same.

The heady perfume of the lilac is matched by the glorious flowers. These are actually a deep mauve/purple with each petal edged in white.

Some of my Bearded Irises are flowering for the first time this year. The sunshine was a little too bright this morning but the lowest flower is fairly true to colour. It's called Tijara Blackjack.

A Western Australian native, Eremophyla Nivea, with velvety silver leaves and the prettiest lavender coloured flowers.

There they are again ... with a Crab Apple in the background.

Another Aussie native, Alagoyne (Native Hibiscus) with a Curry plant (Helichrysum italicum) behind.

Another first time flowerer - 'Zambezi'.

A clump of 'ordinary' yellow irises.

This was found by a neighbour on the roadside.

'Zambezi' again.

SPRING .....

..... there's no season quite like it for stirring one into action, particularly in the garden as everything - trees, shrubs, bulbs, flowers, vegetables, AND weeds - burst forth and grow like there's no tomorrow. Whilst trying to keep pace with it all, one also needs to take a few moments to appreciate all that nature is once more enchanting us with.

Step out the front door to not only the magnificent cherry tree blossoms but the joyful sound of the thousands of bees enjoying them too.

Tulips, daffodils and ajuga.

Californian poppy escapees are too pretty to destroy before flowering.

Primulas and calendulas.

Lamium

? (I forget)

Single pink daisy - hardy and pretty.

Tulips

Cotinus (Smoke Bush) Forest Pansy

The ever-present Osteospermum (African Daisies)

More blossom - in case you forgot what it looked like .... lol.

Chinese Garden of Friendship

On our recent trip to Sydney we visited the Chinese Garden of Friendship, which is nestled at the south end of Darling Harbour and a short walk from Chinatown. This was a second visit, the first being in June 2005. We must make sure that our next visit is in the summer time when the trees are in leaf. However, these gardens are beautiful even in mid-winter, and delightfully relaxing even whilst surrounded by high-rise buildings close by.

Entering the gardens is like walking backwards in time into the quiet solitude of ancient Chinese architecture and its relationship with nature.

The garden combines the elements of water, plants, stone and architecture.

Running water, towering willow trees, cool lagoons with lotus plants and large colourful fish all make this an idyllic spot to read a book or recharge your batteries.

The gardens occupy several acres combining waterfalls, lakes, pavillions, sculpture and animals; the fish and the ibis.

The key features to look out for are the Courtyard of Welcoming Fragrance, Dragon Wall, Water Pavillion of Lotus Fragrance, Twin Pavillion, Gurr, Rock Forest, and the Penjing.

I hope you enjoyed your photographic stroll through these lovely gardens. A few leafier photos can seen on my blog post for June 2005.

(Most of the text for this post was taken from the Internet.)