Mr & Mrs Serenity, how does your garden grow?

 

A potted display and chook ornament adorn the old cottage.

Let's take a little tour around the homestead at Serenity Nursery.

Dotted with stone cottages and buildings from the yester year, it's no wonder Marian and Rod aka Mum and Dad have a flair for the nostalgic and a little bit of country whim. Here they have potted some kalanchoe succulents and an aloe tree into a trio of terracotta pots in their private Serenity garden. The ivy backdrop, as wild as it can grow, always looks lush.



 

The old wagon parked next to heritage scrub.

Most of the trees you will find growing at the Serenity Gardens are native to the area. In fact 5 acres of the nursery property are heritage listed scrub land. The lawn areas are dotted with some ornamental trees that Mum and Dad have planted over the years. Gleditsia 'Sun Burst', ornamental pear "Aristocrat", and ash trees are all doing well in the Murray Bridge climate.

 

 A pretty cottage garden inspired by "Monet's garden" makes for a colourful display at the front of the homestead.

 Last year Mum and Dad removed all of the plants from the front of the homestead. The garden was getting tied and needed a fresh start. The concept for the new garden was Monet's Garden. We wanted lots of hot colours clashing together like one of Monet's Impressionist paintings.

Here they have lined the steps with standard roses ( Augusta Louise and Fire &  roses). Dwarf Polygalas with purple pea-like flowers are planted in between each standard rose.

Salvia "Ember's Wish" and Dwarf Buddleias for intense garden colour.

 Salvia "Ember's Wish" ( pictured left) sits along side purple flowers to make it vibrate even more. Salvia " Embers Wish" grows to 80cm x 1.20cm with a mass of bright coral flowers covering the plant in the warmer months- but don't be surprised if it flowers all year round.

 

The purple flowering dwarf buddleia ( pictured on the right) only grows to one metre making it quite compact compared to the buddleias we are used to seeing that tower over two metres tall. The deep purple elongated flowers attracts butterflies.

New realease Fire& Ice Rose.

A close up of "Fire & Ice" Rose. One of the prettiest two- tone roses around.


Salvia "Heatwave Glow", Alyssum "Snow Princess, Salvia "Caradonna" and trailing convolvulus envelope a
 historic church ornament.

Perennial Alyssum "Snow Princess" softens the edges of the garden and looks like a sea of heavy snow. Salvia "heat wave glow" features soft peachy flowers and Salvia "Caradonna" could almost be mistaken for Italian lavender. The mauve moon flowers of convolvulus trail over the moss rocks, closing their blooms at night and reopening for a fresh day.

Moon flowers teamed with deep pink ruffle flowers of  "The Princess Lavender"

The Princess Lavender ( pictured Right) is an easy to grow lavender with deep pink large flowers and fragrant foliage. The flowers will last well when picked for indoor display.



 

 And finally we couldn't plant "Monet's garden without growing one of the best flowering trees around, Crepe Myrtle "Tuscarora". The large flowers actually resemble crepe paper and are available in white, mauve and pink tones.

 

Hope you enjoyed our little tour.

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Cheers Krystal

 

Detail of plant images via PGA Plants Australia

Today's Saying:

 

We are adoring the weather in Murray Bridge right now. 20 degrees sure beats 40 degrees.

Although we have been considering doing a rain dance...need more rain please!

 

Enjoy this fine Easter Monday.

Freshly Picked:

Autumn is the perfect time to plant lemon trees or any citrus for that matter.

Grow cumquat's in pots for a Mediterranean feel or a lime tree along a fence for an edible screen.

 

It's no secret that I love dogs and while hunting the web I was delighted to stumble

 across these words of advise.

 

 Yellow roses, sunflowers and a lemon as a place card makes a pretty table setting. Use any type of fruit that is in season, your guest can take it home as a healthy snack!

 

 

A yellow feature wall is a dramatic backdrop to this climbing wisteria plant. Use paint in the garden to quickly and cheaply transform a space. Paint the side of an old shed, a fence or an old chair to introduce a new colour to a dull spot.

Plant tulips now and all Spring flowering bulbs. Love the yellow industrial stools? We have them in baby blue and cream @ Serenity Nursery now.

Pretty Much Picasso

Paint a pretty garden with this new flowering plant " Pretty Much Picasso". The lime green edge and dark purple center of these flowers will definitely turn heads.

Pretty Much Picasso is a vigorous petunia hybrid ideal for pots and hanging baskets. Available at Serenity Nursery now.

Happy Gardening.

Edible Flowers

Edible Chive flowers

Today in the garden centre I spoke to a friend who often visits our nursery for our diverse range of unusual herbs and vegetables, which she uses in her catering business. Being a foodie and a keen grower of all things edible she joked about the pansy punnets she was buying. It was unlike her to buy a purely decorative plant. However we did laugh when she pointed out to me that the pansy flowers were in fact edible and she had used them to decorate sweet dishes in the past.

It got me thinking about edible flowers and how they can be used in our home cooking. When I was in Sydney recently I ordered a pizza that was topped with zucchini flowers, it was amazing visually and tasted great. Zucchini flowers can also be stuffed with a variety of fillings like creamy ricotta and then baked. I love salads and I always try to add different colours and textures with my greens. Include vibrant coloured flowers and petals to a salad for an unexpected look and taste.

Pansies in pastels or brights are in flower right now and can be frozen into ice cube trays, use the ice cubes in your favourite drink for a pretty visual treat. decorate your next cake with sugar coated pansy or viola flowers.

Try these edible flowers in your home cooking:

Flowers of chives and garlic chives.
Calandula and marigolds.
Nasturtium flowers
Tulbaghia flowers(society garlic)
Citrus blossoms
Tuberous begonias
Pansies
Flowers of pineapple sage
Rose booms
Zucchini flowers

New Zealands Earthly Delights

 A sculpture made from rustic barbed wire.

 In the shape of a sheep, of course!

 A place for the birds.

A Simple yet elegant cast iron urn draws in the eye.

I love the rustic vegy patch to the right and the stark white gazebo in the background looks divine.

 The contrast of neatly pruned box hedge and romantic cottage plants is perfection.

 Old fashion dahlias and sedems in the forefront add colour to the greenery.

 An espaliered beurre bosc pear tree is a great use of space. Dwarf Tahitian lime trees are planted below making it a mini garden of Eden.

 Standard Olive trees with silvery grey foliage compliment the green box topiary.

 Another espaliered tree. This one is an apple tree. Not only does it look good its produces lots of yummy fruit. Dad brought this idea
 back home with him.

 An espaliered Fig tree is a magnificent idea.

I love the use of this gorgeous teak garden bench. It becomes a practical focal point in the garden.

I was amazed by Marian and Rodney's ( Mum and Dad's) photographs that they took on a recent holiday to New Zealand. A few of you have asked me to post some of their garden tour snaps on our blog.. so here they are. I hope you get inspired and excited as much as I did when I saw these lovely  garden pics. Enjoy...

Quirky Potting Room

As Marian and Rod delved further into the gardens of New Zealand they discovered the quirky side of some home owners. This particular garden had the most adorable little potting shed ( so good it looks better than my kitchen). Complete with a working sink, useful garden tools and lots of baskets to harvest the produce from the garden.

Image by Serenity Nursery

Lights...Camera...ACTION..

Micheal Keelan and Mum in the pavillion.

Me with the camera man doing my little segment.

We are excited and humbled to have had a visit from Chanel 7 television crew this month.

South Australian gardening guru Micheal Keelan and the team from televising series SA Life spent a half a day interviewing us and filming all of our unique garden wares.

We were overwhelmed with happiness when we received a call from Micheal on the Friday and they were here filming the following Tuesday. It was a fun experience for our staff and family who each took a turn talking about the garden centre.

I will let you know when it's going to air.

Our little feed shed.

One of the things that makes are garden centre unique is our old stone feed shed.

 It was built in the early 1900's and once

 housed the grains and hay for the horses and pigs

 that once live on the property.

Today we use the feed shed to display our garden gifts and plants.

Top: our Courtney's Tub is planted with an ivy hoop and trailing geraniums.

 A second hand chair that we have planted with succulents sits by the doorway.

Middle: French style cushions and wall art adorn our little feed shed.

Bottom: It's a great time to plant lavender.

 There are lots of autumn/ winter  flowering varieties in store now.

Photos by Krystal



Yucca Flowers & Gargoyles

I am in awe

 of the wonderful yucca flowers

 that I have seen popping up

 all over town this Autumn.

I discovered these ones today while wandering

 around the garden centre.

 Our hand-made

 lantern is spot on

 next to the

 giant

 architectural

yucca

 plant.

I pieced together this little display

 for the garden centre today.

I've used Dad's hand-made

 old finish gargoyles.

 A suar stool made from teak,

 stone steppers

 &

 striking canna plants for a rustic/gothic look.

Photos by Krystal

Autumn Ideas.

Plant annuals now for winter colour. It's the perfect time as the soil is still warm. Try pansies, violas and snap dragons.

Go for warm colours in the garden this autumn to create a sense of warmth

Autumn is the perfect time to rejuvenate your garden to prepare it for Spring. Prune hedges now to keep them compact before new growth. Pick up fallen leaves and compost regulary. Mulch well to encourage healthy soil and to keep your plant roots warm through the cooler months.

 

I't's a great time to grow stone fruit, citrus and lots of edible varieties.

Spend these lovely days outdoors admiring the warm autumn tones.

 

wheelbarrow image by Andrew Lehmann