Thursday 27 June 2013

Garden Tour And Wild Things

Sunday was the first garden tour I have ever been on. What a novice. I didn't realise I should have been in training for weeks, packed emergency rations and towed a porta potty. Now I've mentioned the potty I'll show you the water features.


This one reminds me of Monet's garden. Not that I've been there. It was part of a five acre spread hidden in the forest. I had to climb a little hill to get the shot. Fortunately there were paving stones leading to the top, unfortunately one of them was loose.......

O.K. on to what I am calling the mother of all water features. 


Yes, that is a life size bear sculpture


I'll keep quiet while you look at the plantings.


 






The owners took advantage of the slope and opened up a culvert which ran across the property. It goes back into the culvert and out to sea as it would naturally. 


In other water related news (previous post)-M and D were evacuated but chose not to tell me in case I had a Mommy meltdown. M's parents are back at the farm, basement flooded. My husband was over on Tuesday helping pull out drywall. Mud behind it. Wednesday everything was going to be power washed with a Lysol solution. 

At least they have been able to get back into their home and start cleaning up. The town is still cordoned off, 13,000 people are evacuated. The not knowing is weighing heavily on everyone. 

Meanwhile, with the sudden influx of water, the hippos at the zoo were able to swim from their pond and use the entire African Savannah building as their playground for a few days.




18 comments:

  1. Your photographs are wonderful. I love the bear sculpture. I am glad your family has been able to get back into their home. Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I cannot imagine how much the sculpture must have cost and I was too polite to ask.

      Delete
  2. What an absolutely gorgeous garden walk!! The water features are stunning! I am glad that you all have made some progress with the clean up...hope people can get back to living soon! Love the story about the hippos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The giraffes weren't as happy. They had to stand in five feet of water for about three days AND watch the hippos frolic.

      Delete
  3. Lovely tour! I am so sorry to hear your family was in the flood area... while we have not had that here, I drove hubby to work this morning and our road is starting to wash out with all the rain, our lake has risen over 14 inches in the last week or so and it is still raining today... sunny weather is supposed to be on its way! Cheers~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are expecting a heatwave over the weekend, record breaking temperatures.

      Delete
  4. I love to go on garden tours and get ideas for planting. Unfortunately, many of the ideas are too grand for me to implement, however, I can dream. Your pictures are lovely, and it sounds like you had quite a hike.

    So happy to hear you are all safe and at home. We are getting the rains for the past week and it looks like it will extend into another week also. The rivers and streams are very high and there has been quite a bit of flash flooding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope the flooding doesn't get any worse. As for the tour, I did pick up a few ideas I can recreate in a small way.

      Delete
  5. Goodness- I can't imagine having such a beautiful garden!!! Your photos are just glorious!!! I'd never go inside if that was my garden:)

    Thanks for your sweet visit-- you mean the world to me:)
    Vicki

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glowing in your praise for my photos-I have a very ordinairy camera. I've been thinking of asking Santa for something a little more sophisticated.

      Delete
  6. Dear Susan,
    I love the foxgloves - they are one of my favourite flowers. And were those pink flowers snapdragons? That garden has a lovely view!

    They are estimating the clean up costs for the flooding we had here in Germany in the millions of euros. I saw a collection box in our local bank today but it is the smaller things who's lost can mean such a lot. I hope that things get back to normal in your part of the world soon although I expect the hippos think otherwise!

    Bye for now

    Kirk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read your Barcelona post earlier today. there were some snapdragons in there.
      Once the initial shock of the flood is over I suspect the long drawn out process of recovery will be very hard on people.

      Delete
  7. I like the natural look to the garden. But way more than I would want to care for. - Margy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was interesting to see what people had achieved. I certainly have a lot of respect for them. Veggies take up a lot of my time so the flowers have to be low maintenance.

      Delete
  8. Such a gorgeous garden and your photos were superb.

    Floods are devastating. In our country, with heavy rainfall, certain low-lying areas get flooded. Some parts of the city suffer from flash floods due to over-development, without proper planning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right about over development. In a few cases subdivisions have been built on flood plains. Thanks for the kind words re the photos-I'm blushing.

      Delete
  9. What a fantastic garden tour! Your photos are lovely Susan and I can see myself sitting by that pond.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There was a natural hill to one side with a sitting area under a group of large fir trees. Perfect for looking down on the pond.

      Delete