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gardens & polka dots

gardens & polka dots

Monthly Archives: March 2012

Flowers for Fridays…

30 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by gardensandpolkadots in Polka Dots

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Australian Native Flowers, Florist, Flower Arrangments, flowers, Fridays, garden, garden design, polka dots, Serendipity, Serendipity Garden Designs

While thinking about all of the wonderful Polka Dots out there I decided to start with this one. Flowers for Fridays.

A beautiful bunch of flowers bought on a Friday afternoon (or any time for that matter) and savoured over the weekend, it is one of the most wonderful and simple Polka Dots of all. I think flowers in the house are such a delight, they bring the outside in and I find flowers so relaxing and comforting.

Image from: Garden Design www.gardendesign.com

I grew up with flowers in the house, not all the time, just on occasions and it was so lovely, like a new view or a tiny holiday for your eyes as they search the room for something predictable. Oh, and the joy of giving flowers is a Polka Dot all on its own, who doesn’t love to see the smile created when giving a beautiful bunch of flowers.

While I don’t have a favourite, because I think any flower in the right vase can be spectacular, I do love Australian native flowers and arrangements. But you have to be careful when asking for Australian natives because you may just find a South African King Protea in the mix. It is a spectacular flower but it will not make your arrangement an Australian native flower arrangement.

Image from: Australian Native Flowers. www.australiannativeflower.com

Different species of cut flowers require different care so remember to ask your florist or seller how you can get the best from your cut flowers to make them last day after day after day. Also think about the vessel, if it can hold water it can hold flowers. Be imaginative and create something wonderful to bring a quiet corner of a room to life.

What are your favourite Flowers for Fridays?

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Our New Garden

29 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by gardensandpolkadots in Gardens

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australian natives, garden design, Gardening, Gardens, kangaroo paw, landscape, landscape design, Serendipity, Serendipity Garden Designs, westringia

Where to start? I know, our new front garden!

As you know my husband and I bought a fabulous apartment last year. The front garden, when we moved into the apartment in July wasn’t much to look at. There was no garden edging, a very unhappy hedge, a succulent cross Agapanthus cross Australian native garden, a Strelitzia reginae (Bird of Paradise) that managed to produce one flower during the spring/summer flowering period and a Hibiscus sp. that didn’t fare much better on the flower front. The garden needed some love and attention and once the other owner occupiers in the building got wind I was a garden designer the wheels were set in motion.

Our front garden before

Our garden before

Apart from the design of our new garden, the old garden had to go and that was taken care of one Saturday afternoon.

The only thing remaining of the existing garden is the Hibiscus. The Hibiscus while not a prolific flowerer serves a purpose in the garden and so I decided to retain it. It is established, needs very little care, provides a privacy screen between our neighbour’s boundary and ours and also gives  privacy from the street.

The Strelitzia reginae on the other hand had to go, well done Andrew and Angela, a big job well done. In its place I chose a Leptospermum petersonii (Lemon-Scented Tea Tree). This plant has the most wonderful scent and I suspect a few leaves will be going into the smoker.

So one Thursday morning my right hand man (husband) and I headed to the Randwick Council Nursery (more on this fabulous place later) bought the healthiest, most wonderful looking plants and headed home to plant our new garden. It looks amazing. Everyone in the building loves it and I am very proud. See the pictures below:

Our new garden

Mixed Aus native garden

Front hedge

Here is a list of the plants I chose for our new garden.

Actinotus helianthi – Flannel Flower

Anigozanthos sp. – ‘Big Red’, ‘Bush Bonanza’, ‘Rampaging Roy’, ‘Orange Cross’

Austromytus dulcis – Midgeon Berry

Baeckea virgata ‘Nana’ – Dwarf Twiggy Baeckea

Banksia spinulosa ‘Birthday Candles’ – Banksia Birthday Candles

Dianella congesta – Beach Flax Lily

Leptospermum petersonii – Lemon-Scented Tea Tree

Melaleuca linariifolia ‘Purpurea’  – Claret Top

Melaleuca thymifolia – Thyme Honey Myrtle

Oxylobium cordifolium – Heart-Leaved Shaggy Pea

Rulingia hermannifolia – Wrinkled Kerrawang

Westringia fruticosa – Coastal Rosemary

Have you had any recent planting successes?

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Aside

Welcome…

26 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by gardensandpolkadots in Gardens

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Balcony Plants, Courtyards, Garden Blog, garden design, Gardening, Gardening Blog, Gardens, Gardens and Polka Dots, Indoor Plants, landscape design, Planting, plants, polka dots, Serendipity, Serendipity Garden Designs, Vegetable Gardens, Vegetables

Welcome to Gardens and Polka Dots.

This is a place where you can come to see interesting gardens of old world classic beauty, modern ideas or where you can marvel at the innovation of great garden designers, landscape architects and engineers. I love the outdoors and am continually inspired by the magic that some designers are able to achieve.

But what are the Polka Dots, I hear you ask? Well Polka Dots are for the finer things in life, like, a day at the beach when the sky blends effortlessly into the sea…a cup of coffee with a rosette on top… a glass of Rosé that smells like summer and looks like sunshine… a smile from a friend at just the right time… a fig picked from the tree and shared…

They are the unexpected surprises in our lives that seem to just appear from out of nowhere. However, some Polka Dots are always there, we just haven’t noticed them yet.

I am always on the lookout for Polka Dots during my day. In fact I can see one now, a Dragonfly with a red tail just landed on the fence outside my window. It could have picked any window, but it picked mine. How lucky. And off it flies…

Please feel free to share any Gardens or Polka Dots that you discover during your day. Who knows, maybe there is a Polka Dot just outside your window.

Thanks for visiting, I hope you enjoy Gardens and Polka Dots.

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Terranora NSW
0403 667 165

@SerendipityDSGN

This sweet Kindness Advent Calendar made it's way to its destination this week. A little late but still filled with love, kindness, fun daily tasks and Christmas cheer
Spots are filling fast at this wonderful preschool in Bilambil. Big A will finish there in a few weeks and little A is starting in 2021. We only have fabulous things to say about it. So if you're looking for a preschool in the Tweed area get in quick!
And slowly our house comes alive for Christmas with hand picked flowers from our garden
Horse appreciation 🐎 at the farmers market this morning

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