A Trip to Nana's Garden...

Those Kangaroo Paws are just lovely ... it's nice to see such a selection of different colours. The lovely foliage plant will be really nice when it fills out more ... that's the variegated Star Jasmine and it's new pink foliage is just gorgeous.
These new courtyard plantings should look fabulous in a short while.

I love the kangaroo paws too, what a delightful place your Nana lives at, thats the kind of garden I would like in later years !!!! Nice blog, thanks.

Beautiful I too love the kangaroo paw and silvia gorgeous both lovely to have all that to look out upon.

Looks a lovely place to live, they've made a very nice job of it haven't they? Will look lovely when they all fill out a bit more.

im sure nanna and the other elderly folk will love seeing the garden grow pip, lovely place to ;o)

Alovely place to live as you get older. lovely plants and blog..

I was delighting in your special 'downunder' plants then--- geraniums and roses,--- you may seem a long way from here but its a small world really :o)))

Lovely write up pip-I haven't seen blue salvias before only the red ones.

your nana and the others have a lovely garden....

It will look lovely when it all fills out. It must be really nice for them when young families visit. I often think that it is a shame that old folk have to be segregated, and think it would be wonderful to combine, say day nurseries in the same grounds as old folks' homes. Or first schools.
This is probably because I'm getting to that sort of age.
The plants look lovely, and surprisingly "english". I bet Nan enjoyed seeing you all.

The gardens have been laid out very nicely and Im sure they will be appreciated by your Nana and friends, she musdt have been very pleased with your visit.
I also agree with you Mad, we do need to be more intergrated would help foster a more caring and understanding community spirit!

What a lovely place to live and the gardener has done a great job for the residents. Do they have any say in what goes in to their garden? The Kangaroo paws look great. Please tell nana we loved her garden. Thank you for thinking of showing it to us. Australia seems to cater very well for their seniors. My aunt in Melbourne lived in a granny flat rented from the council but placed on her daughters land so that the family could keep her at home and independant for longer. My aunt in Rockhampton had to be admitted to residential care when her husband could not give her the care she needed. She was in a Salvation Army run nursing facility. When it was obvious he was missing her they invited him to stay there too. He went back home after she died but they kept in touch with him and when he said he wanted to go back as a permanent resident they allowed him to do that. He came home on holiday and asked if we could track down the uncle of one of his carers. He was very upset at the difference in care being offered to the old man compared to the loving, homely care he was given.

Very nice for you to visit your Nana, and her lovely gardens.

Lots of lovely pics ... the ferny thing is fab! I'd like to live somewhere like that when I'm old! (er)!

lovely photos & blog...

Lovely blog,Pip,your Nana looks as though she has a lovely place to live.The garden is lovely too,and I like the Kangaroo Paws also.Glad you had a nice day out,and she would be pleased to see you,thanks for showing us ...:o)

Would suit me and OH.......lol

Thank you every one for all your kind comments. I had a good time taking pictures of all those plants, trying my hand at close-ups for the first time, but unfortunately my hands are too wobbly or something and they just end up a big blur...

Bernieh, thanks for plant ID, I'm really pretty bad at remembering the names, but heck its the pics that matter isn't it... ;o)

Grandmage, Sixpence, Bloomer: the kangaroo paws are really very nice aren't they? I love them all, but they do not take kindly to our southern NSW weather :o(

Sanbaz, Sewingkilla, Clarice, Hollyeves, Pansypotter, Scotsgran, Fluff, Bloomer: thank you all for your comments on how nice Nana's place is, I am inclined to agree, there are about thirty villas and there is lots of community spirit, I too would love to live there when I am old...

Scotsgran, I am glad to hear the story of some of your family. That's lovely. I don't think the residents actually have a say, they just got the landscapers in and that was it. Regretfully that happens a lot nowadays, no-one gives the oldies much of a say :o( Is this a problem in Britain?

Richard: those salvias are a lovely colour I think, a real midnight blue :o)

I'd love some ID on 'that ferny thing' as Fluff so eloquently puts it LOL it's quite stunning.

Lovely blog and pics, Pip. Have only just read it. It's lovely to see other gardens, especially when they are as far away as you. We have family in Estonia, and their garden is fab. Fruit trees and all sorts, and all growing very well. What with the difference in climates as well, it's lovely seeing what you can grow compared to us. Can see why your Nana loves her little haven. It's beautiful. I had a friend, when I was at school, (many years ago Lol) who emigrated to Woolagong (hope I spelt it right), but we lost touch after a few years. (as you do I suppose). Those days, we didn't have internets etc. We didn't have telephones. We had to rely on the good old Air Mail letters.Lol. Sadly we ended up losing contact. It's lovely to think that your elderly folk are so well looked after. My love to Nana. :o)))

Thanks Lindalooloo for your story, some of us still rely on good old snail mail, including mum - a self confessed 'luddite'...
(You might mean Woolongong - but I have trouble spelling it too don't worry. It's not the worst! We have Woonona on the south coast... pronounced 'Woonoona'....)

I think as often as possible they do now try to keep people independant and in their own home. Unfortunately not everybody enjoys their own company. I have seen some very happy residentrs who were full of life in a family type home where six residents all with their own room furnished with their own goods from home are looked after by a housekeeper. A volunteer house committee arrange outings etc for them. I've also seen wardsfullof elderly patients not being cared for as one would wish. I suppose its the same everywhere.Good staff make up for any short comings and can make a very happy home for people coming to the end of their lives. I am glad your mum is happy there.

So am I Scotsgran. She has a housekeeper come in once a week to help out but otherwise is self sufficient. They have a community hall [seen on the left hand side of the first picture in this blog] where management organise a diferent activity each month. They are very well cared for.

Can I put my name down lol.

Hmmmm. Not sure if they take e-residents, lol.

Wonderful blog, Pip, am so sorry I missed this, but glad I came across it now! Lovely picts too my dear antipodean friend! :~))

Glad you enjoyed it Flori, I had a lot of fun taking photos, its not often you have such a big variety of shots at your disposal here in Oz! Usually it's just gum trees, grevilleas, your odd bit of dust..