Creating a country garden .. AT MY ROSE GARDEN

Our aim in creating a country garden is to develop a green space that is practical as well as beautiful; a place where people can rest and recuperate.  And a place that inspires creativity and an appreciation for the beauty of nature.  

The garden is only young and still very much in the early stages of development.   We started our garden with a small semi-circular bed cut into the lawn.  And from there we expanded one bed at a time.

This required some planning, of course, but the overall design evolved to include a central axis, or central focus, with matching garden beds on either side.  The building of the rose allee allowed for further extension of the central axis, with climbing roses planted on either side to soften the structure, in time.   

The garden design is simple and Edwardian in style to match the age of our Queenslander house, circa 1916. Edwardian designed gardens were formal, often with a small central bed and framed with semi-circular or rectangular beds.  

Over-time the design has been expanded and revised.  Drought in the early establishment phase meant we needed to re-think our use of plants.  Research and trial and error have shown us that some of the old-fashioned roses  recovered well after periods of stress. Tea roses, have proven to be the most resilient, provided they are well watered in the first year or two after planting.    

So our garden continues to be a work in progress, tweaking the initial design so that even more heirloom roses can be planted.  A garden is an ever evolving work, never to be completed, but always to be enjoyed.    

Roses are Restorative - Spring Rose-craft Workshops .. AT MY ROSE GARDEN

Our Spring Rose-craft Workshops, are scheduled for 9 October and 20 October.  See Facebook: Edgeworth Lley, Heirloom Roses, for details.

The background for our workshops is based in scientific research that identifies the benefits of engaging with natural environments.

Did you know that spending time in a garden, park or other 'green space' can help your brain to improve its function?  And working with beautiful flowers is one way we can help our minds to relax.

In other words, engaging with the natural environment is beneficial to our health and well-being.  

As our brain focuses on plants and flowers, our mind finds space to relax.  And our mood improves, which in turn helps our physical well-being.

Environmental psychologists refer to this as Attention Restoration Theory, where natural environments such as gardens, parks and even views of nature, helps the mind to rest from a constant churning of negative or anxious thoughts.  

That's why when we walk through a park our attention is effortlessly drawn to the sights, sounds and smells of the natural world around us.  And this in turn helps us to turn off the constant cycling of busy thoughts.

And that's why we feel refreshed and re-invigorated after spending time in nature.

So there you have it, a short (and very simplified) background to our workshops; workshops designed on purpose to be therapeutic and restorative.  

So often, people of all ages and backgrounds who participate in our workshops suddenly 'discover' they can be creative, when they previously thought they weren't.  

And they feel an unexpected sense of peace and well-being after spending an hour or two making 'something beautiful' with our heirloom roses.  

And that's why we do what we do!!!

 

Spring amid the Heirloom Roses .. AT MY ROSE GARDEN

Winter has finally given way to Spring, with all its promise of more glorious blooms and surprises in the rose gardens.   

The bird baths are filled with precious rain and will send the established roses off to a good start for the expected dry period over the next few months.   

In fact, the sense of joy in the garden is palpable, with glimpses of rosie kisses among the beautiful blooms of the Tea rose, Comtesse de la Barthe!  

She has flowered through all of winter with her gloriously perfumed bell-shaped blooms!

And the 'Cherokee rose', R. Laevigata, is opening up to the warmth of the morning sun with beautiful golden bosses at centre-stage of large pure white blooms.

A small bunch of snipped blooms from the late pruning (we prune in late August to avoid the last of the frosts) promise many bunches of roses to come.  

The last of the bare-rooted roses has been planted just in time for the early Spring rain, with Climbing Tea roses, Noisettes and Chinas added to the gardens this winter. 

So now the bare arches will soon be covered by the likes of the climbing Tea roses, Lady Hillingdon and Comtesse de la Barthe, sports of their namesakes already established in the garden.  

While the winter-flowering Tea roses have a little rest, the rest of the garden is beginning to wake up!  

An exciting time among the heirloom roses at 'Edgeworth LLey'.