Canowindra's Hidden Gardens-Open Garden Scheme

This Saturday, October 21, 2012, a very special garden will be part of an Australian Open Gardens Scheme involving a walk around the "hidden gardens" of Canowindra. It is a garden that is very close to my own heart, as it is the creation of my good friend Linda Guthrie, who shares my love of old roses and perennial "cottagey" plants.
  It is hard to believe that much of Linda's garden is relatively new, as the plantings are all so well-established and robust. This first photo (above) shows the front garden which borders Gaskill Street, and is the area in which Linda first dabbled with old roses some years ago. The border of mixed teas and David Austin roses have been a showpiece for many seasons, and this year are responding very well to their first hard pruning.

  The photo above depicts Linda's new garden project, and it is an absolute triumph. I well remember the years when the entire back yard consisted of a cricket pitch and well-worn grass...Linda's two sons are both champion cricketers, and there could never be any thought of dismantling the pitch while Nick and Pete and their team mates spent countless hours thundering balls down towards the house and belting them back in the direction of the clothes line.
   But boys grow up and head off to Uni, and mothers start to eye off open spaces and begin to lose themselves in gardening books and making lists....in an ideal world, this contemplation results in the haven that is Linda's back yard. It is a profusion of catmint and lavender and tulips and strawberries....of lambs-ears and tea roses and columbines...and a million other things besides. There are rustic sculptures, and a magnificent metal peacock lording it over the paved area at the rear of the garden.
   These photos were taken almost two weeks before the scheduled Gardens Walk, and the roses were bursting with buds that should be glorious on the day.
  I'm sure that all of the gardens that feature in this weekend's Open Gardens will be fantastic....but Linda's is the one that I just adore!

Above: This is one of my favourite spots in the garden...an area that I generally overlooked until it was highlighted in the garden revamp. It is especially gorgeous at the moment, with wisteria draping down over the top.

 

 

 

 

 

I can just imagine the profusion of colour that will greet each visitor as they round the corner and come face to face with Linda's hidden garden this weekend, and know that without exception they will come away inspired. And perhaps the best weapon in any woman's arsenal as they try to persuade their husband to poison the lawn and build up raised beds?....the owner of a garden like this will never have to start, push around, maintain or curse at a lawn mower EVER AGAIN!!!!!