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.

Sign up for the blog so you don't miss a post.

Cheers Krystal

 

Detail of plant images via PGA Plants Australia

A gift for a gardener..

Find adorable gifts at Serenity Nursery.

Serenity's woven chairs and urns will add warm to your home or garden.

 

 Come and fossic through our lovely garden gift displays.

You will be sure to find a gift for someone who loves to decorate their home or garden.

Sweets for my Sweet...



Stevia Plant at Serenity Nursery Now.

 Pop into Serenity Nursery and you will find an array of wonderful and hard to find herbs.
Stevia is part of our advanced cut and cook range, this means you can plant it now and enjoy the rewards straight away. Stevia is a natural way to sweeten food and drinks without the calories of sugar. It's also great to bake with ( see the Oasis apple muffin recipe below).
This herb will enjoy full sun/ part shade and will grow to about 70cm tall. Great for pots or a spot in the garden.

Lovely Apple muffin recipe using stevia here

Plant or chocolate? Have both!

Let's face it chocolate and Christmas go so well together and what an inovative way to get your chocolate fix with a Chocolate Cosmos plant. The chocolate flowers are heavenly perfumed of sweet chocolate and this plant will grow in a pot or out in the garden.

Chocolate Cosmos are in the garden centre now so be quick.

What's in store?

 

New in for Christmas:

 

Don't worry be happy metal signs.

 

Our teak deer head wall mounts are back ( as featured in Real Living Magazine)

 

Lots of wall art including a variety of tree designs from $30.

 

Teak furniture for outdoors.

 

Hyathins patio settings.

 

Too much to mention, pop in for a visit and see for yourself.

 

Krystal

xx

 



 

YUMMY NEW- Blueberry Lime Jam Petunia

Winning Combination Blueberry & Lime...

Pop into Serenity Nursery and find a fantastic range of flowering seedlings....

You will find  Petunia " Blueberry Lime Jam"in our new expanded seedling hut , an exciting new annual petunia for a sunny spot in the garden. This petunia will add vibrancy to your garden or entertainment area and flower from spring until winter Petunia " Blueberry Lime Jam" is also Perfect in pots and hanging baskets. Availble in punnets this spring.

Patio Plant of the Year.

Look out for Iberis Turbo at Serenity Nursery this Spring....

This new and exciting plant was awarded Patio Plant for 2012. It's a great little perennial that has large showy white flowers and grows around 30cm high x 30cm wide. Irberis Turbo will bring long lasting freshness and vigour to the garden and patio and is repeat flowering ( flowers late winter, Spring and Summer). Iberis Turbo is perfect for pots and even attracts buterflies into your garden.

Look out for Iberis Turbo near our lavender display today...

New Release Plant...

Look out in the garden centre for the new range of  Hellebore's. This one pictured here is " Penny's Pink" also look out for "Winter Sunshine" and " Ivory Prince" all @ Serenity Nursery now!

With their domed shaped flowers and soft muted colours, these hellebore's are they perfect way to add elegance to your winter garden. Plant these low growing plants in a shady nook or under tree canopies. Create a magnificent effect by planting them in glazed or earthy pots.

Check out our new pots for inspiration here.

Image via Plants Management Australia

Winter trees in the nursery.

Dad forks the tree bins into our work area to be filled with soil.

Shortly after Toky-lui was taken into the house for a clean up and change of clothes. Spoilt thing!

Incredibly beautiful bare-root weeping mulberry trees are dug into the soil.

  Rain, hail or shine we are always outside working in the nursery. Mum balances her Plants Plus umrella, clip board and a cuppa!

Every year is the same, every winter our bare-root trees arrive and we set out to display all of the new stock. We order our trees several months before from several suppliers and today they arrived. Murphy's law had it that it poured with rain while we unpacked the delivery trucks and set up our trees (infact it just rained all day today). Even our dog Toky-liu chipped in to help. It was otherwise a gloomy day in the garden centre, but it was great to see some folk out to pick up vegy and flower seedlings. It's a great time to plant while the ground is moist.

More trees and roses are arriving soon, so we will be back into it again.

Enjoy the rain. Krystal.

Black Caviar Rose

Black Caviar a magnificent commemorative rose.

We are so excited about the Black Caviar Rose due into the nursery very soon.

The gorgeous burgundy red flowers colour through to black purple in the centre. This rose has the most divine fragrance. Think old world roses meets honey and jasmine. The fragrance is intoxicating.

Black Caviar rose is repeat flowering and will perform well in full sun.

Image 1: Knights Roses. Image 2: Photo by Jono Searle Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

The Peter Brock Foundation Rose

The Peter Brock Foundation Rose. A magnificent red rose due for release this season.

This rose is a growing symbol that honers the legacy of Peter Brock and all he stood for. Living Life and follow your dreams.

This bright red rose is a hybrid tea and will reach a height of 120cm x 80cm. It features glossy dark green leaves and spiralled lightly fragranced blooms.

Images via Knights Roses

ChrysantheMUMs

Double dusty pink.

 Mauve pink

Double fluffy white

Our Chrysanthemum plants are so pretty. I photographed these ones in the nursery today. The mauve pink has an amazing form and the ones with

 double petals are just so voluptuous.

I think the traditional chrysanthemum plant is a must gift every Mother's Day.

Potted flowers last longer than a bunch of flowers because once mum has enjoyed them indoors for a while she can then plant them out in the garden.

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.