With Corona Virus on our doorstep we are looking for new ways to operate our business. We have some really exciting projects on the go and we’ll continue working on them with me working from my home studio in the garden with Kaiya and Ben operating remotely where possible. None of us know what to expect, we have family staying in our home for an indefinite time as they are unable to return overseas. Our son Nathan is a manager at a beachside resort which was forced to close last week for an undetermined time and is now helping a friend close to home at their horse stud as it’s an essential ser ..read more

Austrostipa elegantissima Austrostipa ramosissima I’m an aficionado of grasses, I championed them thirty years ago at my nursery in Sydney and have been a fan of them ever since and as with the last post I wrote on lilies I buy new ones and experiment every time I see one I don’t have. Some grasses have been wonderful surprises and others dismal failures and this is why I trial them before incorporating them into my designs. I have a theory that if a plant grows without any love and attention it could quite possibly be an ugly thug, and a garden by its definition requires a degree of nurtu ..read more

There’s something very comforting with the familiarity one receives from a garden – especially a garden that you’ve lived with for some time, it’s a part of you. In my own garden I see things flowering at the same time each year and it reassures me that all is on track and good – at least with my small part of the world. I see the same plants bursting into growth and flower regardless of the gloom or economic or climate change, I also se them defoliate and others collapse, slump and die down when it gets cold. We live with the vaguaries of the weather, some years it’s dry others it’s wet and s ..read more

For once I’m having a quiet afternoon in the studio by myself, attending to all the emails I’ve started and never finished and doing the same thing with invoices – because if they’re not sent nobody is ever going to pay them… We’ve been flat out working on some interesting, yet challenging projects and sometimes it’s important to step back and smell the roses – to spend a little time appreciating what we have. Down in the lower part of the orchard where the golden afternoon sun brings out the inner glow of the pomegranate trees there’s a patch of purple flowering Salvia purpurea that I usually ..read more

It’s a wild messy time of year and I love it! The paths are strewn with fallen leaves, the weeds are growing like there’s no tomorrow and the garden surprises me every week with a new appearance – often unscheduled and unexpected. The days have been unseasonably warm with only a few coolish nights and the fireplace inside remains unlit but the garden is showing signs of impending cold. We lit the bonfire a few weekends ago, quickly burning the remains of last summer’s pruning. A little colour has appeared on the trees but it’s the aloes, salvias and grasses that are the real heroes – well so f ..read more