What an amazing Spring it has been! Even though a trifle late to start due to the recent drought, we had rain just at the right time and even though we can always do with more, it has certainly had a rejuvenating effect on the garden!
In my post on early Spring at the beginning of October, we were in the throes of Spring blossoms, Dutch crocus, primroses, tulips and other Spring bulbs.
They were soon followed by ranunculus; Crested, Bearded and Dutch iris; tree and intersectional peonies; and now, our glorious roses!
The garden is full of colour and scent and the birds, bees and I are in seventh heaven! Here are some of our locals: a magpie, a baby galah and of course, Oliver, the quiet and sociable King Parrot!
It is probably easiest to visit each section of the garden in turn! Following my steps in my daily garden inspection- well, let’s be honest, I probably do this three or four times a day (!), starting from the house, along the side path to the treasure garden and terrace, then descending the steps to the Soho Bed.
We are then bowled over by the cutting garden with all its profligate abundance and riotous colour, then past the productive vegie and perennial bed to the bottom of the garden. On the way back, we visit the Moon Bed before swooning at the Main Pergola, then a walk up the hill past the new white hybrid musk hedge to the rainforest area, before following the steps down to Tea Garden and the shed.
House
The entrance arch from the lane is now looking very established and I love the appearance of these dainty little pink blooms of Cécile Brünner just as the camellias are bowing out.
We transplanted the Rugosa rose hedge from down by the brutish cottonwood poplar last Winter to the driveway and even though the soil is tough, these roses are also and can probably handle it! They will provide beautiful scent for passerbys and mask any odours from the garbage bins, as well as a beautiful sight from our bedroom window! Mme Georges Bruant (white) and Frau Dagmar Hastrup (light pink) are already up and blooming, but Roseraie de l’Haie has yet to find her feet, having been the closest to and worst affected by root competition from the giant poplar!
When we come out our back door, we are greeted by the sight of our magnificent Banksia rose, which has now fully recovered to its former glory, as well as the sweetly scented white and gold honeysuckle.
Its red and gold companion blooms further down the fence line, as does this glorious broom and this sweetly scented lilac.
Mme Herbert Stevens was one of the first roses to flower this year and has been so generous with her blooms. I love the soft tinge of pink on her creamy buds and her soft globular blooms.
The bright mixed massing freesias of early Spring were replaced by Cottage Gladioli Blushing Bride Gladiolus nanus and now, colour is provided by purple and pink lavenders.
Mrs Herbert Stevens was soon joined by the lemony white Noisette rose Lamarque, who is now quite established, and their combined scents waft up to the verandah every day.
Treasure Garden
The first garden bed I peruse on my daily walk, containing all my tiny or fragile treasures.
It never fails to surprise me. I discovered that the Rhodohypoxis baurii survived after all and this year, had my first Lily-of-the-Valley flower!
The blue and gold colour scheme of early Spring bulbs and primroses has now been replaced by pink, white and plum dianthus and the spicy scent as absolutely divine.
In order: Coconut Ice; Doris; Valda Wyatt; Sugar Plum and oldfashioned favourite, Mrs Sinkins with the strongest fragrance of the lot!
Terrace
We were thrilled by our first Bearded Iris blooms on the terrace, presiding over their older cousins in the Soho Bed (soft gold) and the Moon Bed (mauve).
A dear friend gave us a number of corms to plant at the top of our future lavender bank and they produced a range of colours from the dark purple of early Spring to a bronze, gold, royal blue, pale blue, pale mauve and white.
I now have a new passion- bearded iris!!!
We were also mystified by another different iris from my sister’s garden, eventually identifying it by its white crest as Iris tectorum, the iris found in the thatched rooves of Japanese and Chinese houses.
Soho Bed
The Soho Bed has been an absolute picture from the soft gold bearded iris, purple Italian Lavender, mauve catmint, light blue forget-me-not, pink and white valerian and mixed pink, white and purple aquilegia
… to the blowsy chaos of late Spring, as can be seen in the photos below.
The rose have been glorious: Mr. Lincoln and The Alnwick Rose;
Lolita; 
The Alnwick Rose;
Just Joey;
and Fair Bianca.
Cutting Garden
Our decision to redesign the configuration of the cutting garden from 4 long skinny beds to 4 square quarters has certainly been vindicated by the best ever Spring display!
In the shady bed, the pansies persisted into late Spring, with magical foxgloves and aquilegia replacing the earlier Dutch Crocus.
I have never come across such tall heartsease, which skirt the purple divinely-scented sweet pea.
The late tulips (Carnevale) were replaced with the ever-faithful hoary stock, Jacobean lilies, blue cornflowers, yellow statice …
and poppies galore from wild species to orange, gold and white Iceland poppies and wonderful mottled mutations of Ladybird poppies.
The Dutch Iris were later than the bearded iris this year, possibly because we moved their bulbs in the reconfiguration of the cutting garden, but their display was superb,
especially in combination with the jewel-like colours of the Picasso ranunculus!
They have since been replaced with a wild riot of ladybird poppies, self-seeded from last year and mutating with a wide range of colours from the traditional scarlet to a pure red, mushroom pink and a delicate clear pink!
They looked fabulous with gold Dutch Iris and ranunculus and now, the blue nigella and cornflowers, which for once are standing upright with the support of the mass of poppies!
And now, the dahlias are starting their season, both in the cutting garden and underneath the Albertine rose frame on the shed wall.
The final bed is filled with feverfew, just about to flower, interspersed with Love-in-the-mist, Nigella hispanica, both beautiful fillers for vases! I love the variations in the latter’s colour and form.
The cutting garden has provided us with some beautiful bouquets, as well as edible flowers for our salads and omelettes.
Vegetable Garden
This Spring, we have been enjoying fresh shallots, lettuces, cabbages and broccoli, the latter well protected from the marauding bower birds.
We have also been feasting on fresh strawberries for breakfast with yoghurt, on their own with cream for dessert and also in homemade strawberry ice cream and rhubarb and strawberry icecream!
At the back of this bed are new hollyhocks and peony poppies from last season.
The perennial bed has established well with rhubarb, asparagus, raspberries coming into fruit, angelica producing seed and Russian and standard comfrey in flower.
The mulberries are also turning black and we think the removal of the shading cottonwood poplar branch above it last Winter has really helped with the full sun sweetening up the berries.
Peaches, plums, elderflowers, crabs and apples are also developing. 
At the bottom corner of the garden, buttery Albéric Barbier is in full bloom,
but its thorny stems were not enough to deter a lost wombat, who tried to barge his way unsuccessful through the fence one night!
We return to the main garden through the future chook arch,
smothered in pink Hybrid Musk, Cornelia,
and Climbing Tea Rose, Sombreuil,
with a new vigorous Clematis texensis ‘Princess Diana’ rapidly clambering its way up the latter’s stems and flowering for the very first time- a real thrill!!!
Moon Bed
Another visual treat, it looked particularly good, backed by the snowball tree in full bloom.
Starting with the mauve bearded iris and honesty,
it was followed by six beautiful intersectional peony blooms, their colour reminiscent of moonshine….
very similar in fact to the beautiful blooms of Troilus:
and finally the stunning David Austin roses: cream and gold roses: Golden Celebration, Jude the Obscure, Windermere and Troilus;
and soft pink William Morris, Lucetta and Heritage.
How could I not be inspired to make beautiful bouquets of these sumptuous globular roses!
Main Pergola
We are so happy with the main pergola, which is starting to look very established now!
The roses are clambering over the top now with their heads bowing down and are just so exquisitely beautiful!
On the lower side, creamy Devoniensis,
perfect soft pink Souvenir de la Malmaison
and now New Dawn,
all backed by choisya, allspice and the snowball tree in full bloom. The photo below demonstrates the reason snowball trees got their name!
The upper side sports Adam,
Souvenir de St Anne
and my favourite Mme Alfred Carrière!
Next to Adam, our tree peony bloomed for the first time this year- such a spectacle!
And now, Philadelphus virginalis is treating us with her beautiful fragrance.
On the other end of the pergola, the Michelia ‘White Caviar‘ gave a us a totally different olfactory feast in mid-Spring,
followed by the everchanging hues of Weigela.
The transplanting of the white hybrid musk hedge of roses last Winter was also a great success and all roses have experienced a great improvement in their health!
They included Hybrid Musk roses: Autumn Delight, Penelope, Kathleen and Stanwell Perpetual, a Scots rose with a delightful scent and long flowering period.
Rainforest Area
The big star of this area of the garden was the waratah ‘Shady Lady’ blooming for the first time!
It was so exciting watching the bud, which had been dormant all Winter swelling and colouring up to produce its magnificent red bloom!
We were also thrilled to see all the bluebells from my sister’s garden come up at the same time.
Down in the Tea Garden, all the mints have returned after their Winter dormancy and the Maigold holds court, being one of the first roses to flower this year and still flowering!
Entrance Arch and Albertine Frame
The gold of Maigold is continued at the corner of the shed on the entrance arch,
which is smothered with Rêve d’Or
and Alister Stella Gray.
A blue Clematis macropetala ‘Pauline’ is climbing up through the latter rose, but has yet to flower for the first time.
The Albertine trellis has been spectacular in its second year with an extended flowering season and many many salmon-pink scented blooms.
The dahlias are now starting to appear under its petticoat!
Shed Garden
On the other side of the shed, Albertine is matched by the exquisite Fritz Nobis, climbing beside the entrance door.
Fritz Nobis and Leander (below) are repeat-flowerers in a predominantly old-fashioned once-flowering rose contingent in the shed garden,
though Mutabilis and Archiduc Joseph also bloom throughout the season.
Once-flowering roses (left to right and top to bottom) include: York and Lancaster; Mme Hardy; Mme Isaac Pereire and Fantin Latour.
In amongst them grow old cottage garden favourites like yarrow, sweet peas, Gaillardia Goblin, agastaches, campanulas and alstroemerias.
The garden really looked a picture for the opening day of our latest venture, appropriately titled ‘Candelo Blooms’, selling handmade creations from the old shed.
It has been a real labour of love and a long time in the planning and implementation, but we finally made it! My daughter Jen designed and painted the flyer and signs,
while my other daughter Caroline sold her own Christmas card sets, art cards and prints.
My products included children’s clothing, cushions, toys and crepe paper flowers, as well as fresh bouquets straight from the garden and plants and secondhand books.
while Kirsten Rose sold her beautiful timeless ceramics.
This clever lady also designed another beautiful flyer for future promotions.
We had a wonderful day- very well-attended by market visitors and many locals, who all really enjoyed the old shed, open garden and music provided by my beautiful daughters. We were even visited for the first time by a Tawny Frogmother Mum and baby, obviously very intrigued by all the festivities!
It was such a fun day! Here is a photo of Ross and I outside the shed!
I hope that you have enjoyed a peek into our late Spring garden. Happy Gardening!
Lilies come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colours and have been extensively hybridized over 4000 years, being one of our oldest cultivated plants and having thousands of cultivars. It is little wonder that it is so easy to get a bit confused and overwhelmed by the variety! Here is a brief rundown of their description; categorisation (species and hybrids); propagation and cultivation; history and mythology; and uses.
Description: 
Flowers are solitary or borne in racemes or umbels at the tip of the stem from late Spring through to late Autumn, their blooming times dependent on the variety, but most blooming from mid to late Summer (July and August in Europe).
Each flower has 6 petal-like segments or tepals in a variety of shapes:
They face upwards, outwards or downwards (pendant) and have a huge colour range.
Categorisation
Division 6: Trumpet or Aurelian Hybrids 
Propagation and Cultivation
Uses
Food
Medicine
I learnt so much about lilies through my research for this post and am now keen to trying growing some of the species lilies, including the Turk’s Cap lilies. Our lilies have been a little later this year, their buds not yet open. Maybe, they will be in another week, when I am posting an update on our late Spring Garden. What a visual and olfactory treat it has been! And there is a surprise in store…the next phase of our Candelo Blooms adventure! See you then!
I could easily make the chook runner; the flower cushion; the Nick-Nack Sew a Patch bag and the Home Sweet Home panel myself! The projects are an excellent indicator of the popularity of Yolanda’s home sewing classes for children.
There is also a large introductory section on the meaning and importance of play; the three stages of play; appropriate toys for each stage; and outdoor play.
I particularly love the flapper wax doll heads, the cloth mask faces made in Belgium and the antique French boudoir half dolls.
After an introductory chapter on making the basic cloth doll, Creative Cloth Doll Couture focuses on costumes and accessories.
Many of their patterns can be sourced on websites like: 
The chapter on animals starts with notes on wiring, manes and tails, ears and eyes, horns, decorated heads and moveable legs before describing a variety of separate animals: a dachshund, reindeer, cow, horses and deer, a sitting cat and a tiger, a lizard and toad, and a magical griffin.
While many of the toys shown in the colour plates look a little dated now, the use of modern materials and bright colours would totally revolutionize their appearance and I love the bold black-and-white designs in this book. It allows for plenty of individuality and creativity in the execution of its patterns.
Countryside Softies by Amy Adams 2011 is another favourite toymaking book with 28 very cute and whimsical woollen creatures made out of recycled felted old jumpers or blankets, though I prefer to use ordinary felt, having had to do a major clean-out of my severely-clogged front-loading washing machine after trying to felt an old jumper. I think having an old top-loader expressly for felting would be ideal!
There are introductory notes on fabrics and stuffing materials; washing instructions and storage; and sewing and stuffing with detailed notes on materials; patterns and step-by-step instructions for assembling and stuffing each project.
They are lovely patterns and I am keen to make more, especially the mice (little grey mouse in photo above); the donkey; and the African elephant.
Sock and Glove: Creating Charming Soft Friends From Cast-Off Socks and Gloves by Miyako Kanamori 2005
It resulted in a further Mother-and-Daughter workshop for Mothers Day, where my two daughters and I made three delightful dolls based on Helen’s pattern Petal and Flower Bud. Jen made a green doll, Caro a blue doll and mine is in the middle!
In late August 2000, I treated myself with a good friend to Millenium Madness, the first Doll-O-Rama Cloth Doll Symposium at Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, in Brisbane, Queensland. It was wonderfully stimulating and creative! See if you can find me!
We were given a showbag of goodies, including a cute sun badge, each one unique. 
Geraldene Just was next with her highly creative Shellyback Bogles, mythical creatures who arrived from Scotland as stowaways in the convict ships’ ballast and went on to colonise the drains and sewers of Brisbane. Because they lived in dark places, their colours were dull and neutral, their character relying more on textures and feel.
Another very happy and joyful dollmaker, who shares my love of colour, is another American dollmaker, Patti Medaris Culea (
I would also highly recommend this book as an excellent beginner’s guide to basketry and weaving with natural materials. It starts with a large section on natural materials: the leaves of agave, arum lily, bulrush, cane grass, canna lily, corn, cymbidium, Hemerocallis, dianella, ginger, gladioli, iris, cliveas, kangaroo paw, lomandra, phormium, kniphofia, and a variety of rushes and palms; and the stems of box thorn, native hibiscus, lavender, wattles, elms and oaks, kurrajong, paperbark and casuarinas, clematis, coral pea, dodder, ivy, jasmine, lawyer vine, lignum and wisteria, including a description, harvesting and preparation notes, and availability. It’s a wonderful sideline for gardeners, as you can use all your prunings and old leaves to great effect with zero waste! Below are photos of Monbretia (on the left) and Kniphofia (on the right), whose strappy leaves are perfect for basketry materials!
This little paperback describes the huge wealth of legends and traditions surrounding them; the basic plaiting technique; and all the different designs: the traditional dolly or Neck; a variety of Countryman’s Favours; the Glory; the Mare; the Staffordshire Knot; the Cambridgeshire Handbell and Umbrella; Horns; the Crook; the Crown; the Suffolk Horseshoe; the Pickering Chalice; the Yorkshire Candlestick; the Essex Terret; Mother Earth; Heredfordshire and Welsh Fans and Scandinavian Christmas Ornaments. While there is a small amount of basic instruction, it is more a theoretical book, but does give a good idea of this craft’s long history and traditions.
Magic Lanterns by Mary Maguire 2002
This lovely book has instructions for a wide range of lanterns from simple and colourful paper bag lanterns, Chinese lanterns, carved squash, punched tins and frosted jars to tin foil garden flowers, weird icicles, flower fairy bells, stars on sticks and crescent moons, willow fish, Christmas lights and whimsical goblin night lights. It discusses materials and equipment; safety and illumination; and the basic techniques for creating and covering structures. I could make any one of these delightful, magical and highly creative lanterns!
This book covers everything you need to know about glass bead making:
Intermediate techniques include: Applying enamels; reduction frit; encasing beads; altering bead surfaces with mixed media (baking soda, mica powders and etching cream); shaping and sculpting (furrows, cutting hot glass, sculpting with a graphite paddle, pinching glass with tweezers and making large-hole beads); adding metals to beads (leaf and foils; silver stringers, shavings and fine wire; and copper tubing); and gravity beads, millefiori and dichroic glass. The beads in the photo below were made from recycled window pane glass and were Caro’s first experience with glass-making.
The Advanced section includes notes on: Fuming; hollow beads; sculptural techniques for making winged hearts, spiral seashells and Aegean urns; and making decorative canes (millefiori or mosaic glass, latticino and murrini), including numbers and letters, eyes and portraits and flowers. More of Caro’s homemade glass bead jewellery…..
Each section is supported by wonderful full-colour gallery pages showcasing all these techniques and types of glass beads and there is a trouble-shooting guide at the end of the book, as well as a pattern and instructions for making a ventilation hood.
Backyard Mosaics by Connie Sheerin 2002
Helen holds one day classes at the Geelong West Community Centre, where I also attended a second workshop to make two Birds on a Stick.
Making mosaics is very addictive and limited only by availability of materials! Because we have moved a bit, carting broken tiles and china and heavy bags of grout and cement is not really an option, but now we are settled, I may start to amass my materials again! I certainly plan to make a mosaic one day with all the broken bits of china, glass and ironware, which we have unearthed in our ex-turn of the century-blacksmith- garden!
For more about the use of mosaic in gardens, see my post on Artists Gardens: 
A very comprehensive and detailed book, similar to the glass bead making book in its depth and scope. While I love the concept of making my own tiles, it is probably another lifetime for me, but I did enjoy looking at all the beautiful artistic tiles featured in the book. The next book is much more my skill level and I can definitely see myself making some of the projects!
The possibilities are endless and further inspiration is provided in a gallery in the back, as well as a metric equivalency chart. This really is such a lovely book and highly recommended.
The Complete Potter: Animal Forms and Figurines by Rosemary Wren 1990
Finally, four general books on traditional and ethnic crafts:
Each of the 20 crafts featured includes a sample project as well. My son used this book to paint the wonderful chequered game board, which was designed by Sue Martin, in the photo below.
Both books played an significant role in celebrating age-old traditions and the importance of handwork. It is great to see a revival in interest in these traditional skills, so they are perpetuated in future generations. The Lost Trades Fair in Kyneton, Victoria, showcases these traditional skills here in Australia. See 
