Heronswood gardens in Dromana in the heat of the Australian summer

Here are some pictures from a recent visit to the Heronswood gardens in Dromana Australia. The gardens are owned by Clive Blazey who is the owner of the diggers club business which is most well known for selling heirloom seeds.The summer here in Australia has been a really punishing one with several days over 40 degrees Celsius. These pictures are from the start of the really hot weather so things still look quite green, especially in these gardens where they have lots of irrigation in place. Shortly after my visit there was a fire at the gardens that spread from a nearby bushfire. It burnt down the cafe and damaged a small part of the house. Luckily the gardens survived relatively unscathed.

View from near the front entrance.

 

View up the driveway of what I assume is Clive's car which looked to be a really old Citroen. 

Single dahlia flower.

A veldt lily growing under a Moreton bay fig tree. They could make a nice substitute for other shade loving plants such as clivias or oak leaf hydrangeas.

A classic canna lily in full bloom (probably Canna indica)

A view of the Heronswood produce garden. There were lots of interesting heirloom varieties growing in these terraced beds. Dripper irrigation througout.

One of my favorites growing at the top of the vegetable garden. I'm pretty sure this variety is called 'prado red'.

View from the top of the garden showing the now destroyed cafe. It had a lovely thatched roof. I remember thinking that it could be vulnerable to ember attack when I was there. 

If you mention the word 'tradescantia' amongst Australian gardeners many would run for the hills. Unlike the dreaded weed this tradescantia is an ornamental plant.

 

One of many beds which surround the main house.

Some fine hedging and topiary near the main house.

Another of the beds surrounding the house. Note the large Canary island palm in the background. They were really popular back in the early days of Australian  settlement.

Not sure what this nice white flowered plant is called but it sure looked attractive.

A view down the lawned area. One thing about this garden was that it was a really steep slope. It would make mowing very interesting.

The acanthus that lined this path made for a prickly journey.

More topiary near the main house.

This section is supposed to be a setup that diggers promotes where you grow a years worth of vegetables in 5 garden beds.

 This is a view from the top of the herb garden.

 Lotus flower in the sun.

Allium drumstick.

Euryops pectinatus or the Yellow daisy bush. A classic plant for adding colour to your garden in winter.

In winter the most showy plant I have in my garden in terms of masses of colourful plants is my Euryops pectinatus. Euryops are a classic perennial plant that can be found in many Australian gardens. It has some degree of frost tolerance and tolerates a certain amount of dryness. This perennial is native to South and Central Africa and the name Euryops comes from the Greek Eurys (large) and ops (eye). There are several different varieties of Euryops but I would say that most can grow to about 1.7 high and 1.7 metres wide. I cut mine back after flowering but I let it go for a couple of years and it has gone a bit leggy. I have read that they strike quite easily from cuttings so I will try and propagate some that way and start them off again. It has a silvery sheen to its foliage which some say combines well with Wormwood which has a similar leaf. Here in Australia this plant is probably considered boring by some because it is extremely common but I love it as its is fairly low maintenance and provides some vivid colour to my garden in the cooler months. Among the common names for Euryops pectinatus are Yellow daisy bush or Golden daisy bush.

The classic daisy (asteraceae) shaped flower of my Euryops growing in Macedon Victoria.

Look at all those flowers. You would be forgiven for thinking that it is Spring.

Cherry Blossoms in Macedon

A quick post today of this beautiful cherry blossom I found whilst walking in Macedon on the weekend. Cherry blossoms are of the genus Prunus, which includes fruit trees like plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines and apricots. There are several varieties of cherry blossom. It is a tree that is definitely on my 'list of trees to plant in my garden'. The variety I want to grow is Prunus Sargentii.