Wow MuddyFork, you've got me thinking, now. Do you have a preference for historic gardens, or perhaps those that specialise in native plants? Or something else. Firstly, you can follow a main highway between those cities (and probably miss many gardens), or you could meander along a coastal route and spend heaps of time admiring seaside views rather than gardens.
The botanical gardens in Canberra is wholly native plants.v
Pat, we have no intention to use the main highway if we can avoid it. OH is currently investigating the best maps to get and it's now beginning to feel real. I think I'd like to see native plants as it seems stupid to travel all that way to look at roses
Hit the wrong button mid sentence! Cranbourne, (south of Melbourne) also natives but they try to specialise in natives that are regional to the area. Also Jervis Bay south of Sydney have natives, but not sure if they still open to the public.
Maybe I should sleep on this intriguing puzzle. Re websites, I might need Hubby to help here, I'm still pretty hopeless with these electronic things. I think the most likely problem will be that all the States are autonomous and there might be a problem in finding a complete list for all the regions. Interesting puzzle.
Here I go again. Hubby and I were very active in the Australian Garden History Society years ago, but I've not been in touch with them for several years. (Yes, I know what you all are thinking - Australia and historic gardens? a contradiction in terms) but some of them are quite old by Australian standards. It was always fun to see early mansions with mature introduced trees from 150 or more years ago.
Morning all! Dull here but not actually raining at present (for a change)
You can definitely have some of our weather here in the Pennines, Pat E! I look at the forecast for Lancashire and the one for Yorkshire, and believe the one which says it'll rain. It's not usually wrong... and temperatures in the low 20s is a warmish summer day for us.
Had a lovely walk yesterday morning before the rain started (see above...) - the heather's out and the scent was fantastic. I was pleased to see so many honey bees; our town has established community beehives, and they've really taken off in the past couple of years. Also, there were lots of late bilberries to be munched en route. OH doesn't really do acid fruit so they were all mine!! I actually feel a bit guilty because he can't eat the blueberries I grow in the garden, either, so I'm forced to eat most of them myself (lovely with yoghurt on muesli).
Got visitors at the weekend so I'd better get down to some h....w..k I suppose.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Lirio, what a lovely idea - the community bee effort. I'd not heard of bilberries, so looked in my little Collins Gem Guide, and sure enough there they were. Two kinds listed Bilberry and Northern Bilberry. Both Vaccinium spieces, but obviously different from the American Blueberry which I grow. Our grandson likes them as frozen little ice blocks that he can eat individually.
Pat, I think bilberries are quite a bit hardier than American blueberries. They grow wild in Scandinavia as well as Britain, and have lots of different common names - blaeberry in Scotland, whortleberry in the south etc. The bushes they grow on are quite small, not usually more than 60cm or so tall, and the fruit themselves are smaller than blueberry fruit. They pack a lot of flavour though!
A couple of years ago I managed to pick enough to make jam, though it took hours cos they're only small, and I stained my fingers purple in the process. It tasted good though...
The community bee project is an offshoot of "Incredible Edible", a movement which started in my town seven years ago (and now there are over 300 such groups worldwide as a result). Planters, window boxes, gardens and spare bits of land are used to grow food crops which anyone can use. There are herb planters on the station platform (so you can collect a bit of rosemary or something to put in your cooking, when you step off the train) and vegetable planters outside the police station and the local college. It's a fantastic movement, which has reduced vandalism in the town and increased community spirit - as well as improving the diets of local people who have no gardens to grow their own food. It's a fairly deprived area with a lot of back-to-back housing and high unemployment. I'm proud to live here!
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Posts
Wow MuddyFork, you've got me thinking, now. Do you have a preference for historic gardens, or perhaps those that specialise in native plants? Or something else. Firstly, you can follow a main highway between those cities (and probably miss many gardens), or you could meander along a coastal route and spend heaps of time admiring seaside views rather than gardens.
The botanical gardens in Canberra is wholly native plants.v
Pat, we have no intention to use the main highway if we can avoid it. OH is currently investigating the best maps to get and it's now beginning to feel real. I think I'd like to see native plants as it seems stupid to travel all that way to look at roses
Hit the wrong button mid sentence! Cranbourne, (south of Melbourne) also natives but they try to specialise in natives that are regional to the area. Also Jervis Bay south of Sydney have natives, but not sure if they still open to the public.
Maybe I should sleep on this intriguing puzzle. Re websites, I might need Hubby to help here, I'm still pretty hopeless with these electronic things. I think the most likely problem will be that all the States are autonomous and there might be a problem in finding a complete list for all the regions. Interesting puzzle.
Any ideas are welcome Pat. I always think that it's worth asking the locals for recommendations. Thanks for your help
Morning all
Here I go again. Hubby and I were very active in the Australian Garden History Society years ago, but I've not been in touch with them for several years. (Yes, I know what you all are thinking - Australia and historic gardens? a contradiction in terms) but some of them are quite old by Australian standards. It was always fun to see early mansions with mature introduced trees from 150 or more years ago.
Morning all!
Dull here but not actually raining at present (for a change)
You can definitely have some of our weather here in the Pennines, Pat E! I look at the forecast for Lancashire and the one for Yorkshire, and believe the one which says it'll rain. It's not usually wrong... and temperatures in the low 20s is a warmish summer day for us.
Had a lovely walk yesterday morning before the rain started (see above...) - the heather's out and the scent was fantastic. I was pleased to see so many honey bees; our town has established community beehives, and they've really taken off in the past couple of years. Also, there were lots of late bilberries to be munched en route.
OH doesn't really do acid fruit so they were all mine!! 
I actually feel a bit guilty because he can't eat the blueberries I grow in the garden, either, so I'm forced to eat most of them myself (lovely with yoghurt on muesli). 
Got visitors at the weekend so I'd better get down to some h....w..k I suppose.
Morning Panda, happy birthday.
Lirio, what a lovely idea - the community bee effort. I'd not heard of bilberries, so looked in my little Collins Gem Guide, and sure enough there they were. Two kinds listed Bilberry and Northern Bilberry. Both Vaccinium spieces, but obviously different from the American Blueberry which I grow. Our grandson likes them as frozen little ice blocks that he can eat individually.
Pat, I think bilberries are quite a bit hardier than American blueberries. They grow wild in Scandinavia as well as Britain, and have lots of different common names - blaeberry in Scotland, whortleberry in the south etc. The bushes they grow on are quite small, not usually more than 60cm or so tall, and the fruit themselves are smaller than blueberry fruit. They pack a lot of flavour though!
A couple of years ago I managed to pick enough to make jam, though it took hours cos they're only small, and I stained my fingers purple in the process. It tasted good though...
The community bee project is an offshoot of "Incredible Edible", a movement which started in my town seven years ago (and now there are over 300 such groups worldwide as a result). Planters, window boxes, gardens and spare bits of land are used to grow food crops which anyone can use. There are herb planters on the station platform (so you can collect a bit of rosemary or something to put in your cooking, when you step off the train) and vegetable planters outside the police station and the local college. It's a fantastic movement, which has reduced vandalism in the town and increased community spirit - as well as improving the diets of local people who have no gardens to grow their own food. It's a fairly deprived area with a lot of back-to-back housing and high unemployment. I'm proud to live here!