Garden show

I recently visited the Lifestyle Garden show to get some ideas and inspiration for gardening. 

 

The Spirit of the Warrior garden was lovely; the other gardens were....meh, not so great.

I've lost my love of gardening lately; when I get home at the end of a very looong day, I feel like it's just another thing on my endless 'to do' list that I have to do.

Garden love

It's been scorching hot in Johannesburg during the past 2 months, with daytime temperatures between 30 and 36 degrees most days.  That's not hot for Africa, but it is unusual for Johannesburg - we have a reasonably mild climate with average mid-Summer temperatures around 28-30 degrees. 

 

My garden is battling in the heat and many plants have died, even with extra watering from the rainwater tanks.  I've had to replace several plants, so it's great that most of the nurseries are having sales.

 

Of course the new plants had to pass the kitty inspection and approval test

 

 

This is the view of my garden from my bedroom window

 

 

Lifestyle Garden Show

I visited the Lifestyle Garden show in Johannesburg last weekend.  The gardens are of a high standard and there are lots of inspiring ideas.  I loved the waterwise gardens, and the interesting use of metal....

 

I don't like this artificial lawn

such a cool bench!

I'm undecided - not sure if the painted metal sticks look great or tacky...

not sure about the blue but it's certainly interesting...

this was my favourite garden - the mosaic star in the ground and the concrete blocks filled with bamboo are sensational 

 

 

The Lotus plant

I received this Lotus plant as a gift recently; I'd never heard of it before.  It is the most unusual looking plant with beautiful fiery orange flowers.  The plant is occasionally available from Gia's Nursery in Sandton

 

Thanks to Google, here's the story : Lotus berthelotii is a perennial plant endemic to the Canary Islands.  This plant is either extinct in the wild or persists as a few individuals. In 1884 it was already classed as "exceedingly rare" and plant collection probably hastened its decline.