A gallery and garden visit

This weekend my big sister and I are having a weekend away - the main reason we're hitting the road is to take in the Australian Modern Masterpieces exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Some of my favourite artists are on show at the exhibition - Grace Cossington Smith, Margaret Preston, Nora Heysen.

Jeffrey Smart's 'Truck and trailer approaching city', 1973.

While we're up that way I also intend to visit the Lambley Garden and Nursery, just north of Ballarat.  I have been longing to visit this garden for two reasons: (1) the stunning dry garden; and (2) the artwork of Criss Canning - her husband owns the nursery/garden.  As the pics below show, the garden is nothing short of stunning...large drifts of plants punctuated with colour:

And the veggie garden is not too shabby either...

And equally as stunning is Criss Canning's flora themed artwork:

I'm hoping to pick up a copy of Chris Canning's book when I visit Lambley Nursery and Garden:

Apparently the weather is going to be quite lovely and Spring-like too, so hopefully we'll have a great time exploring.  Whatever you're up to this weekend, I hope you have a good one.

[Images: 1 - Art Gallery of Ballarat; 2-12 - Lambley Nursery]

A bit of greenery for the first day of Spring

A garden post to celebrate the first day of Spring here in Australia...it's here at long, long last!  If the weather is good I'm looking forward to doing a bit of weeding and planting in our neglected garden this weekend.

While trawling through some of the images I've got stored on my computer, it's only just become apparent to me that I have a thing for houses covered in a bit of greenery:

"A love of gardening is a seed that once sown, never dies."

Gertrude Jekyll (1843 - 1932)

[Images: 1 to 3 - Country Living; 4 & 5 - Emily Followill; 6 & 7 - Kay & Burton]

Garden: Taking over the house

I simply adore overgrown gardens - I love the way the ivy has literally taken over this house...

[Images: Kay & Burton]

Vineyard in the city

I can't believe I missed this - McGuigan Wines 'pop-up' right in the middle of the city at Federation Square.  I really do need to pay more attention to what's going on in my own city!

Green Rooms created this little lovely little patch of vineyard in the city for a period of four days only. I love the flower/oak barrel combination and the twinkling fairy lights on the vines...

You can check out some fabulous gardens designed by Green Rooms at their website.

[All images from Green Rooms]

Woodend country house

St Ambrose Farm, designed and formerly owned by the renown garden designer Paul Bangay, is currently on the market. It's situated at Woodend, about an hour's drive outside Melbourne.  If I won the lottery and had a few million in the kitty and a full-time gardener to look after the grounds I'd definitely think about snapping it up just so I could wander around the gardens each and every day...

And here's a glimpse of what the interior of the home looks like...

You can find bigger/clearer images here while the link lasts.

(Images: Abercromby's)

Lush green gardens

I love the lush, green, gorgeous gardens created by Sydney based landscape designer Joanne Green (what an appropriate name for a garden designer!). I'm using these pics as my inspiration to get out in the garden this weekend...

(Images: Joanne Green Landscape Design)