My Winter-Spring Garden 2010 - Part 1

Assalamualaikum dear friends & readers,

"Designing a garden is like painting with flowers..."

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It's summer now in Saudi and here I am back in Malaysia escaping the heat waves to enjoy every raindrops that fall..My kids are enjoying the 2 months summer school break with their beloved cousins and totally putting behind their school days back in Saudi..hmm..

As I've promised 'looong' ago, this time I would like to share some of pictures taken from my previous winter-spring garden...I feel truly blessed being able to experience the joy of growing plants which once I could only admired when flipping through garden books & magazines. For your info, Saudi Arabia has a desert climate characterized by extreme heat during the day, an abrupt drop in temperature at night, and very low annual rainfall. However Saudi experiences 4-seasons(spring, summer, autumn, winter) year-round. In the winter, the temperature seldom drops below 0° C, but the almost total absence of humidity and the high wind-chill factor make a quite cold atmosphere. Though the winter is not as cold as in the UK/US and of course there's no snow at all it enables lots of cool-climate plants especially the beautiful abundant flowering plants grow successfully throughout winter and spring(November-March).

Through my 1-1/2 yr-experience in Saudi, a visit to local garden centre is infact a much awaited activity for almost all my Malaysian friends there. The garden centres are much,much more organized than what we could find here in places like Sungai Buloh etc..The garden ornaments-fountains, urns, pots, containers, birdbath, stepping stones-are FABULOUS!! ..they are fully imported from Spain, Italy, Turkey-and not Made in China...okey...?? And as usual I will always have soft spots for English & French style ornaments...huhu..

This is my summer garden(frontyard)...picture taken shortly before we flew back..no more petunias, zinnias, gardenias, geraniums...I got the topiaries pair(a hen & a duck) as our anniversary gifts from my hubby..luv them!! The plants are anchored by sturdy shaped-wires and all you need to do is find a pair of sharp scissors to trim the leaves accordingly -that's it! The white rustic bench is a favourite spot for my hubby to enjoy his late afternoon coffee after a tiring day at work (fyi - I painted them last year, with

so much effort especially giving the detailed shadow and highlight effects at the 'woven' part of the bench back.)

Last winter turned out to be the first time I got the chance to see daisies in real life - yeaa..all this while(for years..) I've been painting daisies and teaching my students how to paint them..and the best I could do was only to imagine their petals & leaves guided by instructions from painting books...I was so excited and bought lots of

them....I planted them in a pair of rustic resin urns which I got at a bargained price from a

local garden centre. This marguerite daisy grouped together with other small flowering plants in the urns look impressive, aren't they?

Hanging planters/pots are among my favourites..I bought a pair and painted them white to add contrast to the blue-purplish petunias..

Petunias, with their wonderful multi-coloured palettes could be seen in almost every house in our ARAMCO-Ras Tanura neighbourhood(camp) during winter-spring...They are cheap, lovely and very low-maintenance flowering plants. You can plant them straight into the ground or in containers of your choice. I luv this colour combination - shades of blue, purple & light pink..

Also thanks to those soil mixtures sold at local Saudi garden centres which I think had made a huge impact on growing plants in my Saudi garden. They are of high quality mixture of soil and fertilizers, fully imported from Germany...Looking at all the pictures here I'm sure you can definitely see how happily all the flowers blooming to their fullest..

I love how the metal arbor/pergola(surrounded by bougainvillea & few other flowering plants) creates a focal point to my house main entrance. The little pathway makes you slow down to better enjoy the space & potted flowering plants on both sides.

A 3-tier fountain at my backyard always draws birds & butterflies , bringing more life to the small area.

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I'm still considering a few low-budget projects to make my backyard more inviting & lush with gorgeous shrubs and whimsical charm..do join me in Part 2 of My Winter-Spring Garden post...huggsss....