Spring already......

well the flora and fauna certainly think so.  As do the trees, cherry blossom abounds and magnificent magnolias are also now in bloom.  The smell of spring is definitely in the air.                                                                                               


Most of the rose pruning took place the second week in July here we are just a couple of weeks later and I am amazed to see the roses have already got new shoots.  They must get exhausted having only just finished flowering but then I guess they have their dormant times when the sun is at its hottest in January/February time.

Birds are busy building their nests and most seem to have already found their mates.  Our honey eater seems to have invited a couple of mates over to snack on the nectar from our tall gorgeous bright orange crocosmia.  I've only previously seen Lucifer at this height, almost two meters, and they are bright red.  The crocosmia here light up the border with orange and yellow.  Whilst weeding (a joy while the soil is still soft) I discovered one of my favourite flowers freesias just starting to bud in the front garden.  And I've discovered that Sour Sobs (Oxalis) taste good and would be great in a salad.... this made me wonder if the UK Oxalis would taste good too..... anyone brave enough to try them and let me know please?

The start of August was the start of the SALA season.  For the whole of August South Australia is celebrating their Living Artists.  Any type of art form you can think of is being celebrated in some way.  Last Thursday the Adelaide Botanic garden did a guided walk in celebration of the botanic artists.  The tour started back at the earliest botanic artists to arrive in Australia.  The importance for them to accurately record the plants discovered was huge.  Thousands of samples of the plants were taken back to England but many died on the way so you can see just how important their work was.

It was so interesting and all the work shown to us was fantastic and very inspiring.  One of the artists, Gilbert Dashorst, was the botanical illustrator at the gardens for 30 years, his work is incredible, very inspiring and he offers art classes for beginners.....hmmmmm...... If you're interested in reading more about hi and seeing some of his beautiful work this is his website http://www.gilbertdashorstart.com/index.html 

And on to something completely different... we discovered the local fish and chip shop does gluten free meals.  Deep joy quickly turned to puzzlement when I saw the fish being offered on the menu.  I've never seen Garfish, Butterfish, King George Whiting, Flake or Barramundi on the menu before... where to start?

Gently grilled whiting was served with big floury crunchy chips and a delicious crisp salad... delightful.