When I visit someone's house I love to be taken on a guided tour around the garden, big or small, neat or messy, it matters not. I was privileged to get a great guided tour recently when dropping off my daughter on a play-date. There were seedlings thriving in the hothouse, newly planted beds, chooks, vegies in abundance, and problems to solve... I was in gardening heaven. When my partner returned to pick up our daughter he came home with her and a bottle of a milky coloured spray. It was some Envy to put on my citrus to help protect them from frost (I'd mentioned they were looking a bit sad). My friend had mixed up too much and didn't want to see it go to waste. A whole world of plant care I knew nothing about, apparently its good for using in the hotter months too.
Inside is interesting, but outside is where its really at for me. My Nannas were big on a garden tour too. We would have a cup of tea, perhaps a scone or a cheeky bit of slice, make ourselves comfy, and then receive the most delightful offer "Want to come on a stroll around the garden?" Their gardens ever changing landscapes always had something to delight in and learn from, there was something beautiful in flower, a tiny bulb or a haze of smoke bush, a bed of pansies or a beautifully scented rose, a plant name to learn, and often something to eat on their well tended fruit trees. They knew how to delight in the little things and their enthusiasm was infectious. One lived in Ballarat and the other hailed from Merbein (near Mildura), very contrasting climates, each presenting their own unique gardening challenges. After a visit you never went home empty handed, a bulb dug up, or a cutting taken, a jar of jam or pickles.
Why don't you come for a stroll with me.
