Seven years ago, I visited Glenmore House near Camden for a gardening workshop. Not only did we learn much about seasonal plants but we also enjoyed a tour of the garden. That’s when I fell in love with poppies. There were huge beds that included poppies towering over me. You can see in this photo […]

Do you keep a garden diary? I started one when I moved here a few years ago, mainly so I could keep track of what I had growing and where. It’s been so useful. My diary has been through several reinventions. I waver between wanting an online one so I can use it on my […]

I saved seeds from my aquilegias last spring, handfuls of them, carefully dried and stored in paper bags. Most of them, though, came from deep purple flowers so I bought a few packs of seeds in lighter colours so I could vary the look. These are such hardy plants that do well in our cool […]

The bluebells in my garden have thrust their flower spikes towards the sun and opened their blooms. They are plentiful in my garden, some surprising me for the first time, but it’s a particular patch that draws my attention. They are the bulbs I transplanted from my father’s garden. His garden was fronted by a […]

Hello and welcome to the spring equinox! Longer days and warmer weather are on the way for us here in the Southern hemisphere. One of my crabapples is in glorious bloom and, even though the flowers will only last a few weeks, it is worth it. I always celebrate the spring equinox; it’s the period […]

I knew as soon as we moved to a cooler climate I would plant tulips. I’d never been able to successfully grow them in Sydney (humidity? microclimate?). So, after we moved, I had to learn about their requirements and tap into local knowledge. May is tulip planting time in the Southern Highlands. I always take […]

I’ve always been entranced by the beauty of well-tended vegetable and fruit gardens. Those surrounded by quirky fences or walled gardens seem so romantic. All that flourishing greenery, just waiting to be harvested and eaten. Most photos of vegetable gardens found in books and online are shot when the beds are looking at their best, […]

So, there I was on a cold winter’s day, with the westerly winds making the ‘feels like’ temperature outside near zero. What was I doing? Ordering dahlia tubers online. Dahlias are summer blooms. They flourish on warm, sunny days, not in the depths of the cold. Their flowers constantly delight me and I look forward […]

It flourished for years in a large concrete pot, which was refreshed with a new coat of white paint whenever it looked dowdy. The pot rested on a couple of bricks to help with drainage. There were actually two of these pots, placed either side of a short path that led to the clothesline. In […]

One of the delights of gardening in a cool climate is that we can grow hellebores. Or rather, they can grow themselves and flower prolifically, with little human interference. Hellebores are perennial ground-covering plants that enjoy shaded areas. The back corner of one of my garden beds has been colonised by these independent plants. Their […]