Leura Gardens Festival

The Leura Gardens Festival begins tomorrow and lasts for 10 days. The spring is a bit later here this year and for us this means that if the winds aren’t too strong our tulips will still be looking good.

Driveway tulips at their best

Tulips around the urn

 

 

 

 

The wisteria is not quite out but it should be flowering during next week. The continuing showers of rain have the lawn looking good and the azaleas are still colouring up.

 

Cyclamens with pink azalea in the background

We have been putting finishing touches to the route the visitors will take which includes displaying the Gazebo as a wedding venue. We have gathered an eclectic mix of plants as table centres.

Table centres ready to go

 

Bluebells

 

 

The bluebells are coming out right on time and the cyclamens are putting on a show under the Caucasian fir.

Cyclamens under fir

 

 

 

 

Corydalis flexuosa above the dry stone wall

Compost Pile Number 32

Ceratophyllum demersum being layered into compost pile no. 32

A once a year ingredient has gone into this compost pile . In preparation for the Garden Festival I don waders on a sunny day and get into the pond to reduce the density of the pond plant Ceratophyllum demersum. It is an Australian native but does have a tendency to clog water ways. It is not endemic to Tasmania where it is regarded as a weed and is an unwanted organism in New Zealand. I think birds have brought it to our rock pool. Once it is out of the water we let it dry for a day. It becomes reasonably light and is transported to the compost area to be layered into the next heap where it readily breaks down. Our heaps are located under radiata pines and consequently we cover them to limit the influence of the growth inhibitor released from the falling pine needles. Until recently we covered the piles with old carpet but this limited the penetration of rainfall and so stopped the heap working. Recently we have changed the covering to 70% shade cloth. The pine needles slide off and the rain penetrates. We are continuing to get weekly showers so the compost is working and the lawns and gardens are in good shape for the festival.

Paul Scherer with Gwen and Flaming Flag

The tulip Paul Scherer is finally making an appearance in our entrance bed with tulips Gwen and Flaming Flag.

Malus floribunda in the rain

I photographed our espaliered crab apple Malus floribunda during one of the showers. This crab apple was planted against the newly constructed brick terrace wall (with fashionable extruded mortar) in 1969/70. There were originally two but only this one remains.

Espaliered crab apple

The first Spirea of Spring

Spirea thunbergii

I tried identifying this Spirea last September and wrote about it in a post. I have now decided I had misidentified it.  We visited a local nursery recently and there was a similar Spirea flowering at exactly the same time. I now think this one is Spirea thunbergii sometimes called Thunberg’s Spirea and sometimes Baby’s Breath Spirea.

Muscari and daffodils with Viburnum burkwoodii behind

Viburnum burkwoodii

The daffodils are at their peak and the muscari is flowering on cue to make a picture. The Viburnum burkwoodii is  out and scenting the air.

We are beginning to weed and tidy garden beds in preparation for the Garden Festival next month and we spied this dragonfly nearby on some budding lilac.

Dragonfly

The next Triumph tulip to join tulip Gwen is Flaming Flag, we are still waiting for Paul Scherer to make an appearance.

Gwen and Flaming Flag tulips

Triumph Tulip Gwen

The first of our tulips to bloom this year are the Triumph Tulip Gwen in the entrance driveway. They are a couple of weeks earlier than I would like but we enjoy them whenever they appear. These tulips are planted with Triumph Paul Scherer and Triumph Flaming Flag.

Driveway bed looking up towards the white erlicheer and single jonquils in pots

Triumph Tulip Gwen

The pansies are called Lavender Shades and there are wallflowers and Nigella volunteering. The first poppy has flowered, an Iceland poppy carrying over from autumn.

Iceland poppy

Magnolia soulangeana

Early magenta rhododendron

We have meshed the more recently planted Gallipoli poppies to stop the ducks grazing on them . I hope they will be less palatable once they put up flowers and we can remove the mesh. One of our Magnolia soulangeana  is flowering and the magenta rhododendrons are beginning to flower.