A Chinese New Year Greeting

    To all my friends,

                                     

               Wishing you a happy

             and  prosperous 

          Lunar New Year.

           May the year of the Rabbit

              bring you abundant joy

            and perfect health.

Hunter Valley Garden

This visit to Hunter Valley dates back to December 2007, long before my venture into Bloggerhood. This was also the visit that got me falling head over heels for a  Botanic Garden! If your genie could grant you only one visit to a botanic garden in Australia, wish for the Hunter Valley Garden. Seriously!


I had seen two other gardens in Sydney just days before heading for the wine country to stop at certain vineyards and taste the locally produced wine. The Hunter Valley region is famous for its deep red shiraz, we were told. It was actually a last-minute decision to visit the Hunter Valley Garden, but I'm so glad we didn't give it a miss.


There were lots and lots of lovely thematic gardens to see in Hunter Valley Garden. You would feel like a kid in a candy store. We walked more than 8 kilometres along the walkways leading from one 'garden room' to another.

The Formal Garden is splendid

Sunny weather for Santa here Down-under.

I like this look so much that I've got some ducks to place near my new border in my garden.

Now this I wouldn't be able to recreate in my garden!

At the Rose Garden...just luv-er-ly!

There were thousands and thousands of roses...all as pretty as this one.

Look at how fresh the roses look in the summer sun.

These plants must have had the best care in the world...healthy leaves, perfect blooms

We are of course in Story Book Garden.

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Familiar nursery rhyme?

            

She has a familiar pose...

So serene...

This is my favourite view looking out from the cafe where we had a fine lunch.

The variety of native plants...

The vivid colours...

A splendid lake view...

A quiet summer gazebo...

There are just too many favourite photographs in my Hunter Valley Garden album that I want to share with you. Can't post all of them so I'll just drag myself away now. Hope you are inspired to add a feature or two or an idea for your garden from the photographs above.

Mosaic Monday-Hot Stuff!

My super-hot chillies. Lovely to look at, but they are not purely ornamental. Chilly-lovers beware! There's a zing to these tiny colourful chillies that might make you give up wasabi and switch to these home-grown specimens.





For more mosaic pieces, visit Mosaic Monday. The link is at the bottom of the page.