It is spring in Australia, the garden is thriving. The heat of summer is still around the corner but at the moment nature is revelling in the warm, gentle temperatures and all round my garden the flowers are showing their appreciation with a vivid tropical splash of colour.
I love to walk around early in the morning and welcome the new growth.
Come with me and I will introduce the beauty of tropical Queensland.
Winter has been kind this year, quite cold for this area, down to approx. 8-10 deg at night, but there has been a reasonable amount of rain. Unusual as winter is normally the dry season. It shows in the lush green foliage and this paperbark tree has never flowered so well.
Below are the fish ponds created, by Jack, from 3 old bathtubs.
The bees are gorging themselves on the nectar. Can you see one coming into land?
When we arrived back home, after 8 months travelling around Australia and house sitting, I planted some herbs and lettuce seedlings in pots. In front of the ponds is a lovely sheltered and sunny position and now 3 weeks later they are almost ready to use.
The Star Jasmine is in full flower and the scent wafts delicately around you as you pass this section of the garden.
Walk along to the other corner of the back garden and there is another pond.
This is the sunny corner of the garden and we have a raised bed full of plants grown from cuttings put in by my friend June, who looks after the garden while we are away.
Round the side of the house and through the gate hidden under the shrubs and into the front garden
A rustic brick path meanders through the back of a wide border and past the compost bins.
Can you see the bench? Jack made it from all old recycled bits and pieces he found at the rubbish tip. It is wide enough to have a lay down if you are tired. But today we will just pause to take in the view.
I put folk art around the outside and across the top it says
“Sit and rest a while for the joy of life to catch up with you”
The house nestles among the trees and shrubs, so now let’s walk around the other side of this border. Past that other seat.
The road is just in front of these beds but the shrubs hide it.
A selection of some of the things flowering at the moment.
Finally walk past the front of the house and along the drive.
Look what Jack found.
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This walk is inspired by Jo over on “Restless Jo” she takes us on lovely walks each Monday and has formed a cyber walking group of people from around the world who will show you some of their favourite places to walk. Why don’t you join them?
Wow what a beautiful garden that is so full of flowers. I would love them all, but like water lillies tool
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Hi Pauline .. I’ve just seen the news re the storm in Brisbane .. Oh My … did it affect you or are you too far south … haven’t worked out scale on map I was looking at … Hope all ok- it looks terrible all the damage .
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Thank you for your concern Poppy, it is catastrophic in Brisbane the number of houses and people affected by falling trees and rooves blown off, golf ball sized hail and flash flooding, it is like a hurricane but they are saying it was a super cell, 2 storm fronts came together.
We are only 100 km south but we didn’t even get any rain to start with, then in the early hours of this morning we had rain but no wind just a beautiful steady downpour, the garden loved 25mm, first rain for about 6 weeks. Mother Nature is sure in a turmoil all over the world.
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Oh that’s good x in fact tremendous for your garden . Veggie
s galore .
Yes pretty bad all round up there from the report … planes just tossed about on the airfield and everything …. 😮
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I sat watching the news report in pure disbelief that it was so close. Just doing a post about the garden at the moment Poppy. How are your art and photography projects coming on?
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Hoping to post later on today Pauline .. I’ve gone through heaps of paper as per normal Lol for my sketchy watercolour painting … and been experimenting with some long exposures . I just don’t know where the time goes 🙂
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I agree you lose all sense of time when in creating mode, but so much better that watching TV… Look forward to your post.
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Your Garden is looking so so good… 🙂 Love Spring.. and all that has Sprung.. xxx
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Thanks Sue
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Your garden is Heaven! Thank you for the gorgeous photos & sharing.
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The garden is my labour of love. I miss it when I travel.
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Amazing… 🙂
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Thank you
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Totally fabulous, your garden, Pauline! So many nooks and crannies and colour everywhere. 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing! Hugs to Jack- I’ll get there soon myself. 🙂
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Can take a while to walk around if you sit for a while on every bench we have…
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love your garden Pauline. so lush and tropical such a treat for me now everything here is browning off…
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We need rain Naomi. I’m thankful we have a spear pump. Do your rainwater tanks still have some water in them?
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So pretty!
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Thank you
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Enjoyed the stroll through your beautiful garden Pauline! Creating fish ponds from old bathtubs is such a clever idea! 🙂
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Jack is very creative and artistic. We had a lot of fun creating our garden Madhu
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A splendid garden and all in fifteen years. How big’s your block? And I can understand why you miss it when you’re away! Thanks for the tour.
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Thanks for the comment Meg, pleased you enjoyed it. The garden is only an average 700 sq mtrs approx. but the house is only an average size 3 bedroom so room for the garden. So many of the houses being built around here now are huge, taking up the whole section with no space for garden, such a waste I think.
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I really enjoyed your garden – and Jack’s bench with reclaimed goodies – and ohhhhhhh ““Sit and rest a while for the joy of life to catch up with you”
anyhow, it is so interesting how a garden takes on different looks throughout the season and I like how you said “what is blooming right now” because it reminded me of that – it reminded me that what you show us here will look much different as the season progresses. 🙂
I also love the bathtub ponds and those blooms there – what a diverse garden setting you have to enjoy – and June sounds like a treasure of a friend to have for the garden love she gives while you are away nurturing other gardens and homes.
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Lovely comment Y, thank you. I like how you have called June a treasure of a friend, that describes her perfectly. My garden is one thing I miss when we are travelling and it is always a joy to be home and wander around it each day. But then it is also a pleasure to look after other peoples gardens and bring ideas home from them.
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well I can see why you miss it so much while away – it has a personality to it for sure. 🙂
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So much beauty in this garden, Pauline! It must have been a wonderful homecoming. Kudos to your green-fingered friend for tending it so lovingly. 🙂
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Thanks Sylvia. I can imagine you are looking forward to getting into your new house and create a garden.
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thank you for a lovely morning walk, even though only the first half of the photos loaded! that’s ok.. i’ll go drink some tea and will return and have a second walk when the internet is faster!
z
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So pleased you managed to get around Lisa. Slowly is the best way, you see more.
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i really liked jack’s post as well.. that ice sculpture and the story are beautiful!
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Yes his friend Tan is a very talented person.
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How lovely. You brightened my morning.
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Thank you I hope you have had a happy day.
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It’s the morning after our national elections here. And, as I said, your garden has been a bright spot!
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You should have open garden times Pauline ! Love all the secretive places .. a garden filled with showy beauties and then those little lettuces .. Jacks handywork …what a terrific wander through I’ve had .
What a fantastic friend you have in June 🙂
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Pleased you enjoyed your wander through my piece of paradise Poppy. I’ll second the comment about June. We are like sisters, a friend you choose is closer than family. We call ourselves a “commune”
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What a great garden. A garden is my way of painting a picture, of enjoying beauty and nature. I think I would buy a garden rather than a house if it became a choice! Thank you.
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That is a lovely comment Marilyn. The garden area is very important to us too. But it was all lawn when we moved in 15 years ago. It has been a labour of love creating our tropical retreat.
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Now being able to garden like that is one of the reasons I could leave Victoria to live up north where you are 🙂
I thoroughly enjoyed this trip round your ‘property’ – here’s hoping you take us for another walk some time soon
Cathy
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Certainly a bit warmer than your part of Australia. I find the summer heat and humidity is hard on both me and the garden
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I loved this walk! ❤ When can we do it again?
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Just any time at all Cindy, would love you to pop in… 🙂
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What a lush and vibrant garden you have pommepal. Three weeks from planting to almost ready to eat – that’s incredible.
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I’ve just potted them on to bigger pots they are going feral… 🙂
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