Thursday, April 7, 2011

Mellow Days In and Around the Garden

 
This week, we had two of the most perfect days, weather-wise, that anyone could have wished for.  So beautiful were they it would have been a crime not to schedule in some time to enjoy them. 

 Please click the Read more button below if you care to join me for a stroll around the garden .....


 These were the balmy days of Autumn, those "delicious Autumn" days that sent George Eliot into raptures and...

Inspired John Keats to compose his celebrated Ode to Autumn..."Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness; close bosom-friend of the maturing sun."

Hardly a poet has been able to resist her captivating charms...Samuel Butler, William Blake, Robert Burns...the list is endless!


Today, we woke up to a gale force South-easterly wind, not a day to be outdoors from choice.  So, here I am, back at my computer preparing a new post to upload this evening, using the pictures I took in the garden on those two picture-perfect days! 

"Yellow, mellow, ripened days....Beauteous golden Autumn days!" ~ Will Carleton ~

I took my new camera into the garden...

And nervously pointed it at whatever took my fancy!

This was my birthday gift from my husband...in his words, "You have outgrown your old camera, you need something a bit more sophisticated, especially now that you are blogging."

So here I am, sharing the very first pictures I took!

I still have a lot to learn.  Here, I was only using the very basic settings.  My regular readers will recognise this as a section along my garden path!

As with Nathaniel Hawthorne, I too, "cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house.  So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air."

One of the streptocarpus growing in my greenhouse.  They are truly the most rewarding of plants!

When I photographed this African violet, I thought of Diane @ Adventure Before Dementia!  She has finally had success with growing one of her own :)

Fuchias always, always remind me of my Mother!  She grew the most beautiful ones in her gardens in South Africa.  She would simply snap off a twig, stick it in the ground and it would grow into a healthy, floriferous plant!  She is not able to grow them as successfully where she lives in Australia :(

The pots in the greehouse have taken on that lovely aged look!

Self-seeded ferns and mosses have populated the bark in my orchid pots.

And the bromeliad continues to produce glorious flowers!

Impatiens growing in my greenhouse!

Another fern in an orchid pot!

My regular readers will know that maidenhair is my favourite fern...another baby plant popping up in an orchid pot!

A few of my orchids are in bud!  Tiny baby buds, but I have great hopes for them!

Self-sown lobelias :)

The last of my dwarf, summer snapdragons!

Water fern growing in a small water garden outside the greenhouse.

This rose bush produced the most perfect blooms early in the season, but now, these blooms are a lot smaller and somewhat misshapen...but, a rose will always be a rose in my books!

This rose is also a lot smaller than the first blooms of the season, but they last and last on the bush and still smell wonderful! 
 
Seedhead on my clematis.

"Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells."
~ John Keats ~





I hope you've enjoyed this leisurely amble through my Autumn garden.  Hopefully, you'll join me again, soon!



















31 comments:

  1. Truly beautiful, the climate must help but you clearly have green fingers. I would be ashamed to let you see my tiny patch of weeds and rubbish! I love looking at gardens but am emphatically not a gardener.

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  2. I love a little amble every now and again! :-)) What gorgeous flowers! You're making me impatient for the flowers to pop out in my backyard. My favorite of your flowers is the Fuchsia! We get Fuchsia plants from the greenhouse nursery just about every year, to hang around the house. They're kinda picky about where they hang though. And they loose their leaves so easily. But WOW! are they beautiful!! Spring is on the way for us. I can't wait. But your Autumn is pretty cool too! :-)

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  3. I love that piece of the poem, "seasons of mist and mellow fruitfulness". It's funny to think of you just entering Autumn, when we, over here in England, are just entering Spring. Your photos of the garden are stunning. Such beautiful colours, and I love the pots with that ageing look (bit like me really!!). What is the make and model of your new camera. I am curious! Warmest wishes.

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  4. You live in my idea of heaven! I love the outdoors and plants and animals. I'm jealous and you know what? If I had that to look at every day I wouldn't be on my stinking computer blogging either. so I forgive you lol. Thanks for the pictures they are gorgeous!

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  5. Wow! I feel so warm inside after taking that tour. Just beautiful lush gardens. Thank you for sharing!!

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  6. A fantastic journey through your wonderful flowers and garden trails. Lovely poetry too!

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  7. Ahhh, your garden is so peaceful. The pictures are gorgeous. Thanks for the smiles.

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  8. I really like your garden post !!! ...lovely plants...beautiful colors.....hope everything goes well in Africa......lots of love Ria....xxx...

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  9. It's so funny that you write 'if we care to join me'...who wouldn't join you everywhere you go?!

    Your garden is stunning! The pictures are fabulous! Your hubby is precious for getting it for you- Hubs bought me mine too and I love it! Oh, and him...LOL

    The roses remind me of my grandmother. Both of my grandmothers would have fallen in love with your garden! Just as I have!

    Love me some Keats! The poem had me tearing up---beauty in poetry and nature do that to me. I am a big ol sap!

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  10. So many beautiful colors. Thanks for sharing such wonderful flowers.
    Have a wonderful weekend.

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  11. Oh oh and oh! I can't choose a favourite - I do like the white and purple colours on the african violet though. You have taken wonderful photos with your new camera, - and I love that stone path. I didnt know your mom lived in Australia! I too would love to grow fushias here, but they just dont survive.

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  12. You and your new camera have taken some wonderful pictures. That white hibiscus is especially nice. What kind of camera is it?

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  13. What beautiful flowers you have.. I love all the colors especially the streptocarpus. Thank you for the walk through you garden. I had a lovely time. :0)

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  14. All the seasons in your garden are beautiful! Autumn in my garden has such a different look to it, yours still looks so summery. You took great pictures with your new camera! I got a new one not long after starting blogging and I'm still trying to figure it out. Looking forward to seeing more of your garden with your new camera.

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  15. Oh Desiree, I love March/April in South Africa. Absolutely beautiful days. Thanks for sharing your days with us and the BEAUTIFUL garden you have. I have never seen a Clematis in seed. And a new camera? Wow. Do tell. A - N - D HAPPY HAPPY birthday. Somehow I missed it but may you be blessed, my friend. Hugs from Jo

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  16. Amazing pictures, amazing garden! It is sol lovely to watch autumn settling in, while here in Europe we have a spring blossom. And great camera btw :)

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  17. Hello Everyone!

    Firstly, thank you so much for visiting and for making time to leave me your delightful comments :)

    Secondly, several of you have queried the make of my new camera. It's a Nikon D3 100 ~ we're still very much in the 'becoming acquainted' phase of our relationship ;)

    I'm planning to play with it a lot more this weekend!

    Hugs,

    Des xoxo

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  18. Again, I'm glad you got such a thoughtful and useful birthday present from your husband. These photos are gorgeous, with a lot of detail and vibrating with colour.

    I still believe your garden is like a hidden oasis, even looking at it makes me feel more relaxed.

    The flowers are lovely, the dragonsnap reminded me of one of my grandmother's neighbours. She had lots in the garden and we would play with them. Here, we call them "lion's mouth".

    The poets are so right... The last sunny days of autumn are beautiful and well worth enjoying outside.

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  19. Fabulous shots for your first attempt with a new camera. I'm still trying to learn mine after a year with it. Your Autumn garden and poetry is beautiful. Thanks for mentioning my blog. I have now successfully kept 4 African violets alive, one similar to your blue and white one or is it violet and white.

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  20. Good morning Desiree, well, first of all... happy birthday to you my dear!!!! and you have the most sweet husband that cares about your blogging and gives you a precious and perfect present!!! so cute!!!
    I know the feeling of going out into the garden taking pictures with the new camera, enjoy it my dear and we both have lots to learn with these sophisticated cameras!!!!
    By the way, your garden is really awesome!!!
    Here in Chile we are stil having summer temperatures, 30 celsius degrees, too hot!!!!
    hugs

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  21. You're putting your camera to excellent use Desiree - we're all benefiting from your birthday present :D)

    A delightful stroll around your garden, which never fails to uplift the senses. Thank you :D)

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  22. Thanks for the gorgeous photos.
    If they were food, I would have licked my computer!

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  23. Make time for days like this - you won't ever be sorry!

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  24. What gorgeous photo's of your garden, the path, everything! Lovely! Your photography makes me want a better camera more and more.
    Have a wonderful, glorious weekend, Desiree!
    Mona

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  25. Hi Desiree, You did very well with that new camera- Your autumn garden is lovely. I especially like the way you have done the path with the little square tiles(?) set into the fine gravel and the edging of small stones.
    I also took a look back at some of your other adventures. That was an amazing helicopter ride! The views were breathtaking. I want to go swimming on the beach you showed in one of the shots. The pictures of the dahlia's were beautiful. Knowing my own dogs, they would have been just as covered in mud. Have a great weekend!

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  26. Hello my beautiful friend!! Wow..fabulous..your space is always so lush and vibrant and full of life...you lucky girl! Your awesome photos and blooms are pure poetry!! Very magical...thankyou for this beautiful journey into your garden space...i feel sparked with new life now..gorgeous!! Always a joy to visit here...and thankyou for your beautiful words always!
    Hugs
    Happy gardening!!Enjoy!!
    Victoria~

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  27. So beautiful. I love how you know the names to all your plants...I only know a few and then everything else is described by color and texture, lol.

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  28. Your garden and your photos are beautiful, Desiree! I forget that we are having opposite seasons. We are just getting ready for spring. And, thank you so much for faithfully visiting my blog and leaving such wonderful comments. They are truly appreciated. I hope to get back to regularly reading your blog when I return home. Have a happy weekend!

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  29. It seems odd to hear you talking of Autumn when we are skipping into Spring!

    The weather has been glorious here too. I've just come back from two days of travelling - up to Cumbria to yake a recovered Mark back to Uni (missing him already) and back via a friend's house just outside Saltaire, Yorkshire. It has been so good to be out and about!

    What kind is your new camera? The shots are lovely :) It was blogging which made me decide to upgrade too.

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  30. Desiree!! (i'm working my way BACKwards...just left your latest post...and now i see this was the FIRST one with your new camera!!)

    well...you and your camera seem to be getting along fine!! what amazing pictures...your gardens are so inviting...i think i'd like to just sit down at that corner spot with all the smooth rocks and stones...aaaaaah!

    and...as always...the quotes you choose...are so fitting...to what you're seeing...what WE'RE seeing...through your eyes!!

    thanks for the relaxing stroll...
    :]laura

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