Carnival of Flowers

Yesterday marked the opening of the Carnival of Flowers in Toowoomba. Dave was working and I had to finish my coop, but we were definitely there in spirit. So much so, we even planted a Bowen Mango in the garden to commemorate the special occasion!

Here is the tree in question. The soil was perfectly moist and we planted it in the cool of the morning before Dave had to leave for work. I spent most of my day in the garden, working on the coop, watching the chooks and resting in the shade when I needed a break.

In the spirit of the Carnival of Flowers, I thought I'd take you on a small tour of our garden. It's by no means finished, but rather the start of a wonderful journey.

Since we installed this old bench seat near the new footpath, we love to rest in the dappled shade. I hear lizards scrawling through the leaves and birds in the trees. Very tranquil.

This is one side of the new footpath. It has a bird's nest fern, clumping grass and the ponytail palm in the background.

Here is the ponytail palm in full glory. It's at least 9 years old and stands a few metres tall.

Here is the upper side of the new footpath. I've planted ground covers with silver-grey foliage, some clumping grasses and pig-face up the top. It should look nice when the pig-face sprawls down the slope.

Here is one of the many pieces of petrified wood we have on the property. This one has become the place for a mud wasp to make it's nest. I much prefer this place than under the eaves of the verandah!

This is another sample of petrified wood. It's a huge boulder at the bottom of the garden. You can see the bark of the tree which has become part of the stone. We also think that white bit is an animal fossil. It's possibly a lizards tail.

Here are the wind-chimes we've recently added to the garden. Reminds me of the tranquility of a Japanese stream, when the wind blows through them. It's made of bamboo, so very mellow and melodic! Our daughter loves to play with them when the wind isn't blowing.

This part of the garden is one of those surprises, which catch you when your back is turned. We had the chicken tractor on this part months ago. Some pumpkins have sprung up with the recent rain, and those grasses are from the grains we fed them too. I'm tempted to just throw a heap of vegetable seeds in there to see what sprawling mess can surprise me next!

Now on to the flower parade. At the moment we have Federation Daisies in bloom.

And the grevillea!

Some yellow Silverdust Sunset.

Day Lilies, with the rain drops from last night's storm!

Here is the glorious orange of the pig-face! I love this colour in our bush backdrop. It makes you want to smile the minute you look at it.

And finally, some of the pygmy mountain grass I propagated and transplanted recently. Next to it is a succulent in a terracotta pot. I love terracotta pots for container gardening. Something so truly earthy about them!

Well thank you for coming on the small tour of our garden. It's growing all the time and it reveals itself in more ways than we could imagine. It really is a gorgeous time of the year, and for the Toowoombarites, a time to celebrate a wonderful carnival dedicated to our gardens.

Have a wonderful Sunday at your place!