Monet's Nasturtiums at Giverny

"One had to pick one's way along the main walk to avoid treading on the freely trailing Nasturtiums" Jean-Marie Toulgouant

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers", said Monet in 1924 "My garden is slow work, pursued with love and I do not deny that I am proud of it. Forty years ago, when I established myself here, there was nothing but a farmhouse and a poor orchard.....I bought the house and little by little enlarged and organised it ....I dug, planted, weeded myself; and in the evenings the children watered."

Grevillea 'Royal Mantle'

Grevillea 'Royal Mantle'

Planted as a grafted standard, this Grevillea has exceptional vigor and produces masses of flowers throughout winter and spring.

Hakea bucculenta

Hakea bucculenta

I came across this spectacular shrub at the Illawarra Grevillea Park on the weekend.The park was having one of their open days and every time I go there I always see native plants which I have never come across before or ones which are not well known in cultivation. This red flowering Hakea is from the Geraldton region of Western Australia. The Latin name bucca refers to the seed pods which resemble fat cheeks. If you have a garden with very well drained sandy soil or a site with sloping ground where water can rapidly drain away, it would be worth trying to grow this beauty in a home garden situation.Flowering normally occurs during the winter months