Thursday, January 05, 2006

Borrowed scenery

Using the Japanese concept of borrowed scenery (what you can see beyond your own boundaries/fencelines), we try to remember to look at and appreciate what others have planted and which add to our own landscape. So far we have been very lucky in that regard, but modern gardening trends do not auger well. This will be the topic of a future rant, but for now, here are some photos of what I took in this morning's gentle light. The photos just don't do justice to what the eye sees - maybe I'll have to upgrade the camera...


First photo: looking west as the rising sun lights up some trees two and three gardens away from ours.

This is the Norfolk Island Hibiscus in the neighbors' garden. It gets these purple flowers which attract the noisy wattle birds (usually before the alarm has gone off). The ground is littered with the husks of the flowers after the birds have finished with them. The last photo is north facing, and the tallest tree in the back neighbors' garden turns lovely colors in the autumn. The umbrella shaped tree just to the left of our garden house, currently with yellow blossoms, is an unknown to us, and creates lots of seedlings (to weed out), but it's mirrored by one in the garden to the east, and they look a treat.

6 comments:

Val said...

Oh my! If they dont do justice to the real scene, how amazing must it be! I found they really captured the quality of the air and light, and the feeling of incipient heat. I just love those purple flowers too. Its a wonderful antithesis to English winter, thanks. (but I am escaping the cold for a week very soon, hooray!)

Val said...

Well, I was really referring to either my camera's deficiencies, or maybe mine as a photographer. I must be getting shaky in my elder age.

Val said...

Oooh Val, almost a pun...getting "shaky" and the Japanese term for borrowed scenery "shakkei"? Sorry, its been a long cold day and I am a bit light-headed ha ha!

Val said...

I didn't know that! So it was just a coincidence, not a pun, which I do appreciate when well constructed. Ok, I'll even laugh/groan at bad puns too.

Stuart said...

A gardener who blogs, gardens and supports Carlton - I think I'm in love! I stumbled across your site from Alice's. Awesome site. Any chance of selling your blogspot address?

Val said...

That blogspot address has caused me a bit of heartache in 2005 (post Wizard Cup). Originally my blog was also called Carlton Rules, rather than Val has her say, but as 2005 progressed I just couldn’t bear to look at it in the big font at the top of the screen so I changed the title. I felt like dumping the whole thing at times but then people actually started to read my blog! There’s no accounting for taste.