Albertine

Just when I've decided that Rose X is my favourite, another one starts flowering and grabs the title. My Albertine rose is in bloom again - it only flowers once a year, so it's easy to forget about it.

I bought this rose in Coles about fifteen years ago, when they still had a nursery section. It has been moved around the garden a number of times - I've nearly killed it at least twice. It finally got moved to the right spot (next to our old gazebo), and immediately began to flourish (and flower). Now that the gazebo is no longer with us, I've had to chop the bush back to a shrubby shape as there isn't anything to support it. One day I'll get a rose bower built, so that Albertine and the nearby Sparrieshoop can ramble away to their hearts' content.

Anyway here it is in all its blowsy glory - I think it's worth waiting a year for these flowers!

Misc

I paid a visit to the local swapmeet this morning. I really could have spent hundreds of dollars if I had been so inclined - there was so much good stuff today. Everyone must be spring-cleaning!

This cute little bird-house caught my eye.

The seller also had a great old trunk which I was very tempted to get, but it wouldn't have fitted into my Smart car. (This is, in fact, generally a very good thing - curbing the inevitable impulse purchase!) Later, having had time to mull it over, I dispatched Maddie and Martin to see if it was still there. They returned with the trunk, and a parking fine! So here it is - rather more expensive than expected, but I love it.

I have been having a bit of a clean-up at work. I found a pile of tatty old de-commissioned picture books. I've had a great time this weekend cutting them up to make bunting for the children's area of the library.

I've also brought home some stray volumes from a superceded edition of the Dewey Decimal Classification. I'm not sure what I'll do with them yet....any ideas, Judy?

Rosy

These roses have been moved around my garden many times - I could never get them to do much. There's a Sparrieshoop, Buff Beauty, Oklahoma and one or two whose names I can't recall. I think they've finally settled in - they look just beautiful now.

Wednesday is my day off - it's just started pouring. A perfect day!

Overgrown

Our front garden is a little overgrown. A few years ago we decided to get rid of the existing plantings - the grass would never grow because of two large trees, and it was using a lot of water. We hired a landscape designer to design a garden which would get by with little or no watering. The resulting garden has evolved a little in five years - it is mostly native plants, plus some drought-tolerant exotics. As someone who has always preferred exotic, cottage-garden type plants, I'm surprised how much I've come to love natives.

For the first two years, I watered the garden 2 or 3 times a week in summer. Some plants didn't survive, so I replaced them with others. The garden really started to take off when we mulched it. Most of the garden now survives on watering no more than once a fortnight, and only in the height of summer. One side of the garden gets no watering at all, other than rainfall. It will be interesting to see how it all goes this summer, after such a dry winter.

Some of my plant choices were probably not the wisest in terms of general maintenance. I have five native wedding bush plants - who knew that these grow so quickly and to such an enormous size? (Probably those who do their research properly, unlike moi.) They do look stunning when they're in flower and have a lovely perfume, but they need to be pruned very regularly or they just take over.

Yesterday, I went to work with my shears and did some cutting back/trimming/tidying. The garden still looks overgrown...but I think I like it that way.

There's not a terrible lot that's been happening here.

Gardenwise, I have now planted the last of my four raised beds. It doesn't look like there's much planted - it's mostly seeds. There are several tomato varieties, zucchini and yellow squash. The other beds are going, as the picture shows, gangbusters.

I love the garden in October - everything is flowering, including the roses. Delicious smells are wafting as one walks around - wisteria, citrus blossoms, lavender and the lovely native wedding bush. Everything is looking rather schmick (a word used by my deck guy which I rather like).

I had a very good day in the op-shops in Fremantle yesterday. Although not in the league of some uber-opshoppers, I occasionally find some good stuff. Yesterday I bought FIVE pieces of clothing from one rack at the Anglicare Op-Shop - a black Sportscraft jumper, a Country Road cardigan, a long white beachy tunic/top, a great skirt and a fabulous black Jag jacket. All of these were on the "designer" rack, and therefore not exactly amazing bargains. I don't dare say how much I paid, as certain uber-opshoppers would no doubt scoff! I also found a book about Muhammad Ali which Martin actually did not already have in his very comprehensive collection.

The annual council bulk-rubbish collection is happening again. I have very fond memories of driving around with my sister Annette some years ago, loading up the car with good stuff other people were throwing away - I believe "gleaning" is the correct expression. We both still have lots of the things we picked up then. As I've driven past the piles of discarded stuff in the last few days, I keep my eyes peeled for anything promising, but it seems to be mostly old computers, barbecues and broken chairs. Why doesn't anyone throw away lovely rusty old garden furniture? Something like this will do!

Blooming

Today was one of those perfect days that Perth puts on in early spring - blue-skied, warm and sunny. We went to see the Art in Bloom exhibition at the Art Gallery. This is a biennial event where various lucky locals get to interpret gallery artworks with flowers. There were some very clever displays, some making you see the original artwork in a whole new light.

I really love the Art Gallery of W.A. - the 1970s building (though not terribly inspiring from the outside) has stood up very well with the passing years, especially the winding staircase.

I love the familiarity of the gallery's collection, and they have great special exhibitions. The recent Patricia Piccinini show was brilliant (I went three times!) The landscaping outside the gallery is also a real pleasure. There's the wetland garden with its beautiful metal sculpture, and now there's the Urban Orchard - a fantastic idea! Today there was also a lily pond - it was grabbing everyone's attention.

It occurred to me as we were walking through Perth, that the city itself is starting to bloom a little. All the mess and disruption from the underground rail line and the Northbridge/railway station has started to settle down, and although there's a long way to go it's all starting to look very promising. I know that in many ways Perth lives up to its nickname of "Dullsville", but on days like today, you have to love it just a bit!

And finally, here's something that's blooming in my garden right now.



Although it had been chopped back to a fraction of its former self because of our deck/pergola, it's looking (and smelling) just wonderful.

Feeling relaxed

I'm feeling very relaxed after my week off. Some gardening, a little shopping (Trenery, I love you), catching up with my sisters, and lots and lots of reading and knitting.

I confess that I also watched an awful lot of TV - ten nail-biting, heart-stopping hours of The Killing. (In my defense, I did knit while I watched.) I've also been reading a Jo Nesbo and have just finished the audiobook of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - I'm obviously rather fond of Scandinavian crime fiction/drama.

On the subject of knitting, I have knocked off two of the projects I had lying around, and started this one. I'm using some Malabrigo laceweight yarn I bought ages ago - and have now christened this gift. It wound the yarn very efficiently - thank you Judy!

The gardening continues - the third of our veggie beds is now planted. This one has snow peas (I hope it isn't too late for them), ruby chard and green beans. The first bed (planted three weeks ago) is going great guns - we have already been picking leaves for salads.

Back to work on Monday - looking forward to the next little break!