Our Gardens

[mantra]

Does Lisa want the rest of us to contribute or does she just want to blog about her garden?

I didn't think of the title that way.

Maybe "Our gardens" sounds better. I might start a thread if no-one else could be bothered.

There aren't too many flowers around at the moment, but I have about 100 bromiliads in one patch and yesterday I thought I'd pick 3 of the flowers as they looked so pretty. Don't ever try it. Apparently they're toxic and secrete some sort of chemical, but I didn't realise this until after I picked them. The flower stings any part of the body it touches.

[Neferti]

I doubt that they would survive in Canberra's climate. I tend to go with English Country Garden sort of things.

My soil just loves Azaleas and Camellias and I have Lavenders, Wallflowers, Penstemons and heaps of other stuff and bulbs, etc.

[mantra]

My soil just loves Azaleas and Camellias and I have Lavenders, Wallflowers, Penstemons and heaps of other stuff and bulbs, etc.

I've grown those in the past, but they were high maintenance. Too many birds passed through and dropped seeds which turned into some dominant shrubs and trees which took over the garden. I don't attempt to nurture anything too much anymore. Most of my gardening involves lopping and pruning. I have seasonal flowers all year, so there's always some colour aside from green.

[Neferti]

My soil just loves Azaleas and Camellias and I have Lavenders, Wallflowers, Penstemons and heaps of other stuff and bulbs, etc.

I've grown those in the past, but they were high maintenance. Too many birds passed through and dropped seeds which turned into some dominant shrubs and trees which took over the garden. I don't attempt to nurture anything too much anymore. Most of my gardening involves lopping and pruning. I have seasonal flowers all year, so there's always some colour aside from green.

I am an "easy care" gardener. My Mother was a Horticulturalist and drove me mad with her idea of "gardening". I just wanted a large plot of garden where I could plant things and have year-around flowers. I achieved that. Vegies aren't my thing.

At the moment I have Azaleas, Camellias and Penstemons in flower ... these same plants flower again in Spring. Also have Narines in flower ... they used to be pink but turned to white. Lots of daffodils, jonquils, snowdrops, etc will flower come Spring.

I planted lots of trees when I first bought this place but due to the Canberra "no front fences" policy, I came home from work and found the the Postman had run over a couple of those "saplings" on his little motorbike and I did see some local teenagers use the stakes I had put beside other saplings to swipe the top off them. I gave up.

[lisa jones]

[lisa jones]

Hey everyone, love reading about your gardening experiences. Please keep them coming.

Lately our gardening efforts have consisted of mowing lawns, trimming hedges and edges.

We also take care of all my Mum's gardens now (she's not doing too well atm).

Needless to say..all lawns, edges and hedges over her place and ours are looking lovely

It's very cold, windy and wet here in Sydney today. Apparently it's going to be like this all week.

Rain water is great for the garden...but gardening? Hmmm might wait til the rain stops.

[Neferti]

April in Canberra means no more mowing until September!

[AiA in Atlanta]

I like Cottage Garden style and do it as much as the climate here permits. Can't stand that American Mid-Century landscaped look.

[Neferti]

I like Cottage Garden style and do it as much as the climate here permits. Can't stand that American Mid-Century landscaped look.

Mine is sort of Cottage Garden style. A mass of colour in Spring but colour all year round.

What is the Mid-Century landscaped look like? Can you post a picture, please?

[mantra]

I like the cottage garden look too, but you have to get the balance of everything right so all these fussy plants can live together. Survival of the fittest is my formula these days.

The weather is horrible here at the moment - lots of strong wind and rain. Lisa and BO would be experiencing it too. There are branches down everywhere and gardens are being wiped out.