Colac Gardens Tour

We went on a bus trip organised by the Ballarat Horticultural Society

First stop:

It is hard to read in this photo, but the name of the property is in wrought iron on the gate: Narroghid. The garden was designed by Edna Walling at the same time as the house, in the early 1950s.

Seaside daisies are a weed in lots of parts of the country, but they do look lovely growing in and around these stone steps:

Lots of curved pathways and garden beds in this garden:

And pretty spots to sit and relax:

Gorgeous cottage-style borders against the house:

Lots of natives thoughout:

 It was a beautiful day for visiting gardens.


Next stop:

Colac Botanic Gardens

Beside the lake:

There's a nice-looking cafe overlooking the gardens and lake

but which was inexplicably shut on a Saturday afternoon. Apparently their hours are 8:30 - 4, Mon-Fri. There is no sign up about that, I found the info on their website later.

Plants in the gardens are nearly all labelled, which was handy for plants I'd never seen before, such as this snowy daisy-bush, Olearia lirata:

The gardens are full of very large old trees which offer welcome shade on a sunny day.

All the roses on the rose arbour in the background are labelled with their name, their country of origin, their breeder and the year they were bred (or maybe released?). Not all are in flower yet, but in summer it should be beautiful.

Gardenesque or picturesque?  I always get those two garden styles confused, but I think it is safe to call these gardens "gardenesque".

Our third stop was a small nursery where purchases were made but not by us.

Last stop for the day was another private garden:

Green:

I was quite taken with this lorepetalum:

The ones in my old garden never got more than about 50cm tall, but look at the pergola behind this one to get an idea of its height.

I thought this was another lawn area when I first caught a glimpse of it between the trees, but it is actually a pond. There are even a couple of ducks swimming on it, but they are in the shadows on the other side so you might not be able to see them.

Enticing pathways through the garden:

 Male and female cones on a wollemi pine:

Some refreshments on the back lawn:

Then it was time to get back on the bus to go home:

It was a wonderful day!