Hard hot work!

Sometimes gardening just feels like the worst kind of outdoor housework! Dirt, heat and mosquitoes.   Drudgerous in the extreme, but I kept at it and I have managed to let a bit of light into the back corner of the garden. I had to brutalise the banana palms which had gone feral in the back corners and cut back as many branches off the avocado as I could reach. Or rather avocadoes. We have 2 huge trees (and very little fruit), as well as lots of seedlings settling in for the summer.


After the hackerthon I rewarded myself for all the sweaty hardwork by taking a trip up to Eden Gardens. This is a wonderful place created in an old quarry. It is great for inspiration because it has so many interesting shady spots which somehow also magically have flowers and colour. I love it.

Although it was too late to see all their incredible azaleas and rhododendrons in flower,  the hydrangeas were gorgeous. These are definitely on my list to add to my garden en masse.

They are such a luxiourious, low maintenance plant and the colours ... fantastic.
Apparently Madonna hates them, but I can't see what's not to love. 

I associate them with old rambling gardens, nanas in sunhats and country roads.  Along with dahlias and roses, they are among my flower favourites.

Second reward for myself was a lovely little garden book A Gentle Plea for Chaos by Mirabel Osler. I like the idea of gardens with rough edges and especially the notion of "amiable disorder". A constant tension for me in the garden and out is the tension between structure and chaos. I am drawn to both.

Hydrangeas at Eden Gardens