Janalli

During the annual Gardivalia Festival which is held in West Gippsland, during the month of October each year, Janalli opened to the public.  In conjunction with the local poets and writers group we welcomed local poet Lisa Demos to the garden.  Lisa delighted garden visitors with her performances of both her own and other poems. 
Here is a poem she wrote about Janalli's gardens especially for the occasion:
A Gardivalia Poem 2011 by Lisa Demos
Weathered verandahs with silvery floors
Peaceful and shady, a welcoming door

My last coversation on this website was about dead grass and a certain member of this family.  Well, the good news is that said family member spent many an hour spreading seed indeed he reminded me a lot of that farmer in the bible who scattered seed here and there.  The result of all this spreading and consequent good, soaking rain and a period of six weeks was a much improved lawn weedfree and magnificent - a significant improvement on the paddock grass which formed much of the lawns, particularly in the woods.

One of Alan's fetishes is a weed free lawn - and a great job he has done of it over the years too!!  At this time of year as the flatweed begins to raise its ugly head he gathers all his tools and gets ready for the great "Battle of the Flatweed".  If the flatweed wins, the lawn becomes a sea of yellow in the summer followed by lots of dead patches.  He has rigged up a tank on the back of the old mower with sprays attached to the back to help in this fight.  Being an engineer, he has ensured that this is a very effective way of spraying a very large area of grass in a sh

It's that time of year again and we are frantically racing the weather to get all the pruning done before the Spring which all of the locals are predicting is going to be early this year.  This seems strange to me after such a cold winter but let me tell you these old blokes know what they're talking about.

 Walking along the street in Sorrento one summer, some years ago, we came upon an antique shop – one of those treasure trove, messy sorts of antique shops.  In a back room I found a box of books including two by garden writer, Gertrude Jekyll.  Now, at the time I knew nothing about her but the books looked interesting so I bought them both – Wood and Garden, published in 1899 and Wall and Water Gardens, published in 1920.
 

The result of the breaking of the drought is really obvious in Janalli’s garden.  This photo taken from the front of the house shows the vibrant green which we have not seen for several years. It shows the berberis hedge, weeping silver pear trees and rose arbour with our neighbouring farm on the distant hill.
 Green view of garden
 
 
 
 

When the blossoms start appearing on the trees the garden begins to come alive again.  It also turns one’s thoughts to the anticipated harvest.
Here are some photos of the blossom that has appeared in the last week.
 

Spring is in the air and the snowdrops are everywhere.

 
 
In spite of constant showers and sometimes wind and deluges we move ever closer to spring.  This is most evident in the length of the days and the quality of the light.  Plants are pushing their way up all over the garden.  Of course this includes the weeds but one can’t have everything.
 

 
Most people see winter as a cold, colourless time in the garden but here in West Gippsland, although it is definitely cold and thankfully exceptionally wet, it is certainly not colourless.
 

Winter is a very busy time in southern hemisphere gardens.  I sometimes envy those gardeners who have time off to do all of those indoor jobs whilst snow covers the ground.  Here in Australia mid summer is the time for indoor jobs.  It is far too hot to work outside except for early morning and late evening.