Glasshouse gleaming and dreaming

Here in southern Australia, the days are getting shorter and colder. May is a great month for autumn colour but also for completing some key garden jobs before it gets too cold.

One such job is cleaning out the glasshouse. Which means taking every pot out! Luckily we have this handy deck just outside.

A bucket with soapy water and I’m ready to wash down the benches and the walls. It’s worth it.

Next, I hose down the concrete to get rid of all the bugs 🐜 in the corners.

I have to race against the dimming light and cold to bring these plants back in.

These begonias are still flowering!!!

Job done ✅ Now I can sit and dream of more plants! Stay in your garden and breath – be safe and positive.

Bulb time

Bulb planting time – spent the last few days planting tons of bulbs. These were dug up from a large clump and released from each other to start anew. Happy gardening and always be … botanical. 🙂 #

Happy

The popular Pharrell Williams song, Happy, was apparently written with the idea of trying to capture what it felt like to be in a good mood. Many famous poets also captured the essence of happiness by reflecting on nature.

Nature always wears the colours of the spirit

Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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After a day at school we arrive back home to this….and I am content and I am constantly amazed…

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… and I am so grateful for this garden…..

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… its surreal colours, its serene corners ….

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Autumn is a second spring
when every leaf is a flower
Albert Camnus

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and I am happy

It might seem crazy what I’m about to say
Sunshine she’s here, you can take a break…

Read more: Pharrell Williams – Happy Lyrics | MetroLyrics

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What aspect of nature makes you happy?

Spring or Autumn Take #2

After visiting the Melbourne International Garden Show, I am again confused . Are we in autumn? Then these wonderful tulips belong to the Northern Hemisphere not Down Under. e

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This interesting contraption from fifty years ago sorts the bare bulbs into sizes. What intrigues me are the fantastic displays which are often not seasonal and brought here from thousands if miles – was this also the way in the 1960’s or were the seasons recognizable ?

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Thank goodness we finally found some maples turning to mellow yellow.

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More special arrangements to come later – stay posted! Hopefully they will be seasonal too.

Spring or Autumn?

It’s a beautiful day on the Mount. The season is turning and we are approaching the delight which is autumn up here. However, I have this potted plant which I haven’t been able to identify. I have scoured the Plant Encyclopaedia, maybe just looking in the wrong place. It seems like a spring plant not an autumnal one.

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It can’t be a crocus as it doesn’t die back. I thought it was an orchid when I bought it pot-bound at a garage sale in early summer. I repotted it and forgot about it. Now it has this lovely creamy white flower.

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Maybe my little white cat knows what it is!

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Any suggestions welcome.

All the leaves are brown….

And the sky is grey… well, I did go for a walk as the song suggests, on a not-so-winter’s day. The sky may not be very grey but winter is just around the corner. The autumnal garden changes so rapidly that I thought I’d better take a walk and show you around the garden and its variant colours.

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This weeping cherry puts on a very different display in autumn. Gone are the pinks of spring and the greens of summer, now replaced by gold and russet.

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The red hues of the Japanese Maple carpet the ground.

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This maple will soon lose its red hues…

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There will be much time spent raking leaves during the month of May.

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Currently there are many interested Japanese tourists in our area admiring the seasonal changes. These wonderful colours shed a final luminescence before the barren, grey of winter sets in.

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The golden elm resplendent in its regal colours!

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This particular dogwood could glow in the dark!

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Gone are the ornamental apricots on this weeper….

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The cats joined me on the garden tour.
What ever the season in your part of the world, I wish you happy gardening in nature’s truly amazing playground! Thanks for following and may all your days be garden days!