Bud Burst at Spring and Some Heirloom Gardening

We visited grandma yesterday for a Saturday roast.  It was an eventful trip to say the least.  The first Beach House Brat was complaining of a sore tummy, so I gave him a plastic bag in case of emergency and told him to tell me if he wanted me to stop.  He seemed to doze off so I forgot about it for most of the 45 minute trip.  But as we turned into grandma's street, said child lost the lot all over the back seat and car floor.  Not sure why he couldn't make it into the plastic bag or wait the 2.5 nano seconds until we got to grandma's, but no.  So I spent the first half of our visit disinfecting the back seat.  He is fine now....what a difference 24 little hours makes.

Anyway the day got decidedly better.  My mother's garden is definitely at it's best in Spring.  It is at the bud burst stage now and will look magical in 2 weeks, when it is in full bloom.  Gardening is a challenging past time in Australia, especially if you move away from natives, which was the trend back in the 1960'2 when my parents lovingly laid these garden beds out.  The lack of water and the searing heat in Summer kills lots of things, but after nearly 50 years of trial and error, this garden has reached it's strides.

This garden came together when no one had any money and you did it all on your own.  Not just the gardening, but the stone work, the paving and the building of all the structures.

When the sewer was put on.......That's right in those days you bought the block uncleared and unsewered.....the septic tank became a fish pond.  It is not unusual to find a black snake out here in high Summer trying to eat the frogs milling around the pond.  The snakes tend to be more scared than us though, so left alone they just go away.

But you never garden out here in Spring, Summer or Autumn without gloves and shoes.

My dad built this BBQ area and pergola out of wood sold off from the Big Dipper, when it was dismantled.  It was a very famous roller coaster at Luna Park, well known by any child growing up in Sydney in the 1970's and before .

The garden is full of potted orchards, which I hope to show you in full bloom in a couple of weeks, if the cockatoos don't get there first.  They are simply stunning.  They were obtained from neighbours, when they moved to America in the 1970's.....we got their dogs as well.

There are lots of nooks around the garden for just sitting and watching the world go by.  All a bit chippy and aged now, but still very calming for the soul.

Here's another example of my father's handy work.  A very elaborate filter box, a bush stone wall and some paved stairs.  He even built the back wash drain you can see in the far left of the shot.

Water tanks, a must in the hot Summer months when watering restriction come into play. And the brick paving was completed by us, the weekend before my 21st first birthday.  A sit down lunch around the pool for 75 people.  A juke box playing next to the BBQ area, which became the dance floor, made for a wonderful day and a now treasured memory.

And here's a well recovered boy being a boy, climbing a Jacaranda tree that was sown in a jam jar by his great grandma 50 years ago.  He had to resort to old fashioned pursuits, as the last computer bill at grandma's blew out due to his over use....so now he is banned from using it and has to entertain himself in other ways. He seemed to manage though!!!!

What with annoying the dogs and climbing trees, I think he had a ball.

And I love that you can bring some of the outside in.  The fragrance from these little babies was divine and always revives wonderful thoughts of Spring, which is just around the corner, as our little part of the planet awakens from its Winter slumber.

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