When we started this blog it was my intention to feature gardens that inspire me. From National Botanical Gardens managed by a huge staff of professional gardeners to a little “handkerchief” garden loved by a hobby gardener, there are many gardens I know and appreciate, and each in their own way, their owners have all motivated and inspired me to take care of mine and to learn about “the art of gardening”.
But if I have to single out the one garden that inspires me the most, it is the garden of a young couple who have worked their tails off to be able to live on this magnificent property and call it their home. Not only is the garden beautiful to look at, they have also created this as a magical space for their kids to run free and enjoy plenty of space in a secure and beautiful environment. Five years ago my friend bought the property and proceeded to pull out every bit of the neglected overgrown jungle that came with the house. Fast forward five years and you see magnificent water features, forest walks, plenty of beautiful indigenous plants that attract all manner of wildlife to well planned flower beds that provide a theatre of botanical beauty in spring through summer. Nothing seems planned … and yet I think a lot of it is, but every area seems to blend into the next quite naturally. There are many different ‘garden areas’ and styles in this little paradise and it all blends well with the magnificent views.
And all credit to my friend – no landscaping companies were used, no garden designers or experts were called in to assist – this is a garden grown with care and love and an obvious natural talent for creating a magnificent oasis – and he shares all his experiences and the knowledge he’s gained with such enthusiasm and generosity that many a plant has been ripped out of the soil and been sent home with me because of an “oooh” or an “aaah” in admiration from me!
I am privileged to be able to “show off” this garden in all its Autumnal finery. I took over 100 photographs and here are my favourites. I’ve purposely not named the photographs, lets just walk and enjoy!
Photo Gallery (you can click to enlarge the photos)
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
[/one_half_last]
To my friend that owns this piece of paradise – Thanks for allowing me to spend private time in your garden and to photograph it. Thanks also for all the chats, advice, help, your generosity, the plants and the inspiration!
Sweet Bean Gardening: On this blog I found an article called “Dirt Cheap: Homemade Seed Starter Pots”. I know how into recycling you are and I also remember the conversation we had a few weeks ago about planting from seed. (Background for our readers: Lazy girl me prefers to buy seedlings while Barbie does the whole seed planting thing!). So Barbs, this one is for you: Sweet Bean Garden shows us how to make little “seed pots” from old roilet rolls or from newspaper. They are cheap and easy to make, plus they look kinda cute too. From the Blog: “this year I’m attempting to start my seeds in little homemade pots inside my wintersowing container. Naturally, I was on the search for the frugalist (yup, made up that word) pots possible. Enter the toilet paper roll pot. Talk about the ultimate upcycling! And everybody has these around. (And if you don’t, I don’t even want to know why)” … See the article here: 
The Idle Gardener: This one appealed to me because of the name … and then the first two articles on the home page caught my eye because they are both topics I’m interested in. The first is “Ten tips on how to take good flower pohotographs”- I need all the help I can get! The second will appeal to most gardeners, “My top ten tops for idle gardeners”. With the current heatwave we’re experiencing here, I was keen to read how I could be even lazier about gardening at the moment. Also some good book reviews on the site. I’m off to buy “Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers by the RHS”tomorrow. I hope they have it at Exclusive Books – I’ve been contemplating buying this book for a while. Now I’m convinced that I need it. Visit this blog at: 
Northern Shade Gardening: This blog had me spend a good two hours reading and exploring and I’ve bookmarked it so that I can find it again when I have some more time to browse. About the blog: “My garden is located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which is in gardening zone 3, where winter temperatures can drop to -40°C (-40°F). It is usually covered in snow for about 5 months of the year, so the growing season is short. Northern Shade Gardening contains information about the types of hardy perennials, shrubs, bulbs and trees that perform well in these cold climate conditions“. The photographs are really good, the articles are very interesting and are of particular interest to me because of the shade gardening. Packed full of info, there is also a section on all the plants planted in Northern Shades’ garden. I love that I am learning about gardening in other parts of the world. Canada is so different to South Africa so its very interesting to me. I will be returning to learn more from this blog. See the blog here: 
Elephant’s Eye: A fellow South African, Diana, shares her gardening experiences on her blog, Elephant’s Eye. Diana lives out in