One of the most interesting things about Gardenbuddies is discovering and sharing gardens from the other side of the world. Our Australian buddies enjoy a very different type of gardening and climate from most of us. It’s always a delight to see plants (and wildlife) that we would never be able to see for ourselves.

Carolyn is a cornerstone of Gardenbuddies, having been with us from the beginning. She has produced the garden magazine for the last 12 months and is now handing it over to concentrate more on the Feathered Buddies articles. I’m pleased to present Carolyn’s garden as my first article, in tribute to her wonderful efforts.

Carolyn has been interested in plants since she was young, starting as most of us do with indoor plants. In her first rented home and later on in her first house she dabbled a little with the garden, designing rock gardens, tending trees, lawn and a hibiscus hedge and then in 1976 when she moved house she indulged her interest in native plants and made a “forest” with bark covered walkways.

When relocating to Queensland after her second marriage Carolyn inherited an 18 month old half acre garden consisting of mainly palms, grass and trees situated on a slope. Terraces and retaining walls were already in place. Some unsuitable trees were cleared and the forest area, which was very wild and inaccessible due to the thorny wild lantana, was cleared by Tony to enable them to have part of the garden to develop and enjoy but also encourage the wildlife area.

Inspiration comes from gardening books and magazines and TV programs, but a lot of Carolyn’s garden features are her own ideas. She prefers a natural look so leaves a lot to Mother Nature. If plants pop up unexpectedly she believes they were meant to be there and leaves them alone for the most part. She enjoys water features and has two fountains in her garden, one a decorative one and another, which spills into a fish pond/barrel. There are many birdbaths in her garden too, which adds another dimension. Carolyn loves the smell of the Australian bush so a lot of her favorite plants remind her of this – eucalyptus, acacias and grevilleas. She also loves perfumed shrubs like her gardenia and informal Murraya hedge.

Carolyn and her DH do all the garden work themselves mostly at weekends apart from having someone come in to mow the grass. They enjoy their special time together doing pruning, watering and other chores. Most of the garden is low maintenance – in part because of the water shortage – Carolyn has to do a lot of watering herself. For this reason she will probably not make any new garden beds, but will tend the ones which are already established. Autumn tasks include pruning shrubs to allow the winter sun to shine on the verandah.

Daylilies are one of Carolyn’s favorite plants as they flower for 9 or 10 months of the year. “The daylily sits there in all her beauty and makes a statement "look at me - I will only be here for one day but I demand admiration".” Each of her plants has its own personality, some shy others more outgoing. She also admires the bright and cheerful nasturtium and enjoys it in her salad.

Carolyn’s greatest enjoyment comes from the visitors to her garden. She is well known to Gardenbuddies for her love of birds, and she has a very wildlife-friendly garden. A special visitor is a wallaby that has been living near the garden for 7 years. She has had a joey and they come quite close to graze, and if nervous retreat to the lantana. Large lizards sun themselves in the garden beds, and possums come to the verandah and help themselves to paw-paws and passion fruit. The thorny lantana also provides cover for many birds including the noisy pitta, pheasant coucal and brush turkeys. Of course there are also the beautifully colored parrots and the kookaburras that Carolyn shares a very special relationship with.

“I love my garden but much more than that I love the visitors who come to and live in my garden. It would be so static if there were no birds flying from branch to branch and singing as they go about their busy little schedules. Each little flower face has its personality but with my birds they have not just personality but heart and soul and without them I would never enjoy my garden as much. I feel blessed to have their company and their trust.”