A touch of zen

I have finally made it to Tofukuji temple in Kyoto. It's famous for its zen gardens, but I loved the wooden walks over the maples, the unexpected bog garden, and the pond full of sacred lotus more than any raked gravel beds. 

And then it rained

Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan: A nod to my growing hosta obsession. 

A small comment on lawns.

I never realised before just how important an expanse of green is to the Australian psyche until we were unable to locate one for our babes to run on, and when we finally did find a beautiful lawn it was off-limits (this glorious verdant free space with accompanying potted sacred lotus is Todai-Ji in Nara, Japan). 

Note to self: Surprised at the very average size of the pots those lotus are growing in. Must try to do that myself. 

Rose haul 2014

It's like Christmas! Fourteen new beauties here, the only one missing from my original order is 'Mme Berade' as it was out of stock. I'm now tossing up if I should seek further, or replace it with something else (top contenders are 'Lady Hillingdon' or 'Lady Huntingfield'). I've managed to plant all but three of these plants since Saturday, but its not easy with a poor sniffly limpet-baby boy. 

Rust and slugs

Hollyhocks in winter suffer more than their fair share of woes.

A half-finished corner

A day spent digging, until the weather came in, at least. Doesn't look at all spectacular, and the lawn is a little worse-for-wear (since it's had half a tonne of soil and rocks on it for the past six months), but very happy to have that little white cherry tree (centre) in place at last.

For those playing at home, that assortment of twigs and trees from left to right is (not including the trees right along the fence): the grafted weeping mulberry, dwarf white cherry, thornless lemon (at back), my beloved Moorpark apricot (largest), and the dwarf black cherry (far right).

Underneath so far, and so small most are almost invisible, are a couple of volunteer broad beans, three Salvia leucantha, two Penstemons (I think "blackbird" possibly, cuttings from an unknown variety in my mother-in-law's garden), one surviving peony (forget which), "Munstead Wood" David Austin rose, a prostrate caper, some Gaura from self-sown seedlings transplanted from the front garden, "Sandford" raspberry, and far too many Oxalis pes-caprae (Sour Sobs) that I just can't seem to stamp out. That seems like a lot, now that I make a list, but there is more depth to this area than appears in this 'in-progress' shot. And, let's face it, I tend to over-plant. 

From Saturday, there'll be a couple more plants in here because it's ROSES COLLECTION DAY! Wheee! 

Oops!

I've accidentally deleted the last post, a case of slipped finger on an iPad screen, and no second chances. Never mind, it wasn't a good photo in any case. I had a browse through some old posts, I really MUST start uploading some real photos again. I've been window-shopping for camera lenses too, and with my tax return weighing down my back pocket, I may have even found one to buy to replace the one pulled off the table by my orangutang-armed baby boy (expensive mistake on my part).

Meanwhile, here are two phone-camera pictures of our very first blood orange! I was worried the fruit would be sub-par; such a small tree, and in its first year in the ground I really shouldn't have let it develop, but I couldn't bear to pluck it off. It was worth it. It was perfect.

PS Next week we four are heading off to Japan for a holiday. Can't wait!