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.
About Me
- Rosie Gan
- A garden enthusiast who loves to travel and capture the beauty of places and freeze the memories of her travels in photographs, as well as document her experiences in verse...thankful for the simple pleasures in life.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
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.
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.
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| The Formal Garden is splendid |
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| Sunny weather for Santa here Down-under. |
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| I like this look so much that I've got some ducks to place near my new border in my garden. |
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| Now this I wouldn't be able to recreate in my garden! |
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| At the Rose Garden...just luv-er-ly! |
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| There were thousands and thousands of roses...all as pretty as this one. |
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| Look at how fresh the roses look in the summer sun. |
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| These plants must have had the best care in the world...healthy leaves, perfect blooms |
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| We are of course in Story Book Garden. |
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| And the dish ran away with the spoon. |
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| Familiar nursery rhyme? |
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| She has a familiar pose... |
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| So serene... |
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| This is my favourite view looking out from the cafe where we had a fine lunch. |
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| The variety of native plants... |
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| The vivid colours... |
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| A splendid lake view... |
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| 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. |
Sunday, January 30, 2011
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.
For more mosaic pieces, visit Mosaic Monday. The link is at the bottom of the page.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Macro Flowers and Today's Flowers - Bursting With Pride
I am just bursting with pride... gladiolus plants are currently bursting with blooms in my own garden!!! Can you believe that? I have already featured their story and mine, or should I say our history, in the previous post. Now I want us all to get up-close and personal with Dark Eyes and Her Majesty. Here they are :
I just can't get enough of glads.
To view more lovely blooms, go to Macro Flowers and Today's Flowers. Click on the links which you can find on this page if you patiently scroll all the way down. Cheers and have fun.
I just can't get enough of glads.
To view more lovely blooms, go to Macro Flowers and Today's Flowers. Click on the links which you can find on this page if you patiently scroll all the way down. Cheers and have fun.
Fertilizer Friday, Blooming Friday and Seed Week: Glamorous Gladiolus
This is a very special post for me. This Fertilizer Friday,I get to flaunt a particularly precious flower to me - the gladiolus. I had grown glads before. I used to get the corms from the Cameron Highlands. However, for a very long time, there weren't any available up in the highlands, and I had lost my source of corms. I pined for glads in my garden for years. Then just four months ago, I managed to get three packets in New Zealand. They were all out of glads and these three packets were obtained from different towns. I found Her Majesty, Dark Eyes and Tout-a-Toi!!!
In November, I planted all three packets. Her Majesty was of course given her own kingdom, Dark Eyes given her own private sanctuary, secluded from prying eyes, and Tout-a Toi ( translated as All-a-thee...could it mean 'all of you', I wonder?) were placed all together in a comfy home of their own.
In just days, the spears appeared, inciting so much giddy enthusiasm on my part that I watched over them like a mother hen watches over her chicks. I watered them ever so faithfully twice a day. Our weather was not so kind to them at that time, so I was careful to tend to their need for refreshments.
I was rewarded, and these shoots grew fast and in 70 days, they formed buds.
Another kodak moment! In fact, many kodak moments to celebrate this occasion.
When the first petal peeped from out of the bud, flashbulbs went off by the second. I almost wanted to give out cigars and put in an ad in the local dailies. Dark Eyes was the first-born. She was so glamorous, looking mysterious and exotic as she bloomed.
Next to arrive was Her Majesty. Straight-laced and proper, a true Victorian. She grew to be such a beloved queen in my garden haven. She is all sweetness and light,never haughty nor naughty! Graceful and charming to all who come to her court.
But where's Tout-a-Toi? We await her arrival with great anticipation.
Gladioli blooms signify infatuation.If you receive a bunch of glads from an admirer, he or she is telling you that you have pierced the heart of the sender.The flower is also a symbol of faithfulness and honour.What else could you ask for - a smitten admirer who will be steadfast and loyal to you!
For kebunmalaykadazangirls' Seed Week, here are some tips on how to raise gladiolus plants.
They are really easy to grow. Plant the corms shallow,about 6-8cm under the surface, the tip almost showing on the ground.They need to be about 12-15cm apart. The soil should be well-drained. Mix in some plant food with the soil to ensure bigger blooms. The plants will flower in about 70-80 days from planting. Gladioli plants prefer a sunny position.
The plants will require staking, especially if planted in an open location. When the blooms have faded, they can be removed, but the leaves should not be removed. New corms will grow on top of the spent corm, and smaller corms called cormels will develop at the base of the new corms. Cormels can bloom 2 or 3 years after replanting.
And how does this post relate to Blooming Friday's theme of 'scent' when the gladioli flowers do not have a fragrance, you ask? Well, for those of you who have been growing scent-less glads, here is the scoop.
Headlines read "Deliciously fragrant gladiolus discovered!"
There is one species, native to South Africa that releases a fragrance at night. The scent is said to be a mix of honey-suckle and almond! As a cut-flower, it continues to produce that special blend of perfume. It has been described as an elegant species, with large, nicely-shaped blooms.
It is ...the Gladiolus tristis.
Sadly, I don't have that species in my garden, but would be ever so grateful to anyone who has, to send me some corms. Who wouldn't want a tryst with Galdiolus tristis in the still of the night, drowning in her fragrance of almond-honeysuckle delight?! It would be a rendezvous to remember.
For more Fertilizer Friday, Blooming Friday and Seed Week, please click on the links at the bottom of the page.
In November, I planted all three packets. Her Majesty was of course given her own kingdom, Dark Eyes given her own private sanctuary, secluded from prying eyes, and Tout-a Toi ( translated as All-a-thee...could it mean 'all of you', I wonder?) were placed all together in a comfy home of their own.
In just days, the spears appeared, inciting so much giddy enthusiasm on my part that I watched over them like a mother hen watches over her chicks. I watered them ever so faithfully twice a day. Our weather was not so kind to them at that time, so I was careful to tend to their need for refreshments.
I was rewarded, and these shoots grew fast and in 70 days, they formed buds.
Another kodak moment! In fact, many kodak moments to celebrate this occasion.
When the first petal peeped from out of the bud, flashbulbs went off by the second. I almost wanted to give out cigars and put in an ad in the local dailies. Dark Eyes was the first-born. She was so glamorous, looking mysterious and exotic as she bloomed.
Next to arrive was Her Majesty. Straight-laced and proper, a true Victorian. She grew to be such a beloved queen in my garden haven. She is all sweetness and light,never haughty nor naughty! Graceful and charming to all who come to her court.
But where's Tout-a-Toi? We await her arrival with great anticipation.
Gladioli blooms signify infatuation.If you receive a bunch of glads from an admirer, he or she is telling you that you have pierced the heart of the sender.The flower is also a symbol of faithfulness and honour.What else could you ask for - a smitten admirer who will be steadfast and loyal to you!
For kebunmalaykadazangirls' Seed Week, here are some tips on how to raise gladiolus plants.
They are really easy to grow. Plant the corms shallow,about 6-8cm under the surface, the tip almost showing on the ground.They need to be about 12-15cm apart. The soil should be well-drained. Mix in some plant food with the soil to ensure bigger blooms. The plants will flower in about 70-80 days from planting. Gladioli plants prefer a sunny position.
The plants will require staking, especially if planted in an open location. When the blooms have faded, they can be removed, but the leaves should not be removed. New corms will grow on top of the spent corm, and smaller corms called cormels will develop at the base of the new corms. Cormels can bloom 2 or 3 years after replanting.
And how does this post relate to Blooming Friday's theme of 'scent' when the gladioli flowers do not have a fragrance, you ask? Well, for those of you who have been growing scent-less glads, here is the scoop.
Headlines read "Deliciously fragrant gladiolus discovered!"
There is one species, native to South Africa that releases a fragrance at night. The scent is said to be a mix of honey-suckle and almond! As a cut-flower, it continues to produce that special blend of perfume. It has been described as an elegant species, with large, nicely-shaped blooms.
It is ...the Gladiolus tristis.
Sadly, I don't have that species in my garden, but would be ever so grateful to anyone who has, to send me some corms. Who wouldn't want a tryst with Galdiolus tristis in the still of the night, drowning in her fragrance of almond-honeysuckle delight?! It would be a rendezvous to remember.
For more Fertilizer Friday, Blooming Friday and Seed Week, please click on the links at the bottom of the page.
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