To Davi's Garden Tour

Welcome to my Garden Tour. Although my real name is Fiona, I sometimes chat in the Yahoo! Garden Chat Room where my chatname is davina_au (known as davi)... hence my choice of title for my website.

Come and take a stroll through my Garden Tour from Australia and I do hope you enjoy your visit. Taking photos of our little "piece of paradise" brings a lot of pleasure to my hubby, Roly (mr. davi) and myself.

We are soulmates, best friends and have been happily married since May, 1972. Our two children have since grown and flown the nest. We are retired and live at Mt. Eliza on the Mornington Peninsula, which is about an hour's drive in a South-Easterly direction from the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia.

Our small property of 3/4 acre is located in natural Australian bushland approximately 2km from Port Phillip Bay. We have lots of native eucalypts and other native flora, as well as some beautiful native birds. Although we've only lived here since July, 1998, we've been able to put our own happy little thumbprints upon most of the garden, with the introduction of many exotic plants.

Sharing our scanned photos and creating documents for friends and relatives, gave me the idea that perhaps other folk would like to see some of our garden. Not having attempted a website before, I am enjoying this challenging experience!

Spring Splendour!

You'll see the smiling faces of the pansies and the colourful cinerarias that come up each year. After flowering, their seeds are scattered and faithfully they return during the following winter. Various species of daffodil bulbs are in flower, together with Dutch blue irises, which are my favourite flowers.

In the foreground is a young weeping mulberry tree, to which we've added tiny bud lights. After dusk, the lights twinkle and the area is transformed into a special place for little children, who wait expectantly hoping to catch a glimpse of the fairies and the elves, that live amongst the flowers. The sense of wonder in young children can teach us adults so much! On a practical note, the stakes help us to locate the dahlias which will bloom throughout summer.

Meet our daily Visitors!

These rainbow lorikeets and the grey and pink galahs are native to Australia and love to visit their feeders and birdbaths. They are a joy to watch and are often joined by eastern rosellas, wrens, finches and doves.

Each winter we have a number of wild wood and black ducks who take up residence and we delight in watching them through our picture windows. We are certainly entertained and they remain undisturbed.

Families of kookaburras, members of the kingfisher species, live down near the creek and they have become quite tame. Their "laughing", for which they are famous, is apparently not from contentment, but their way of protecting their territory.

Trees 'n Branches

Just a couple of months after moving in, we were fortunate to find and plant a very special deciduous tree. It's called Gleditsia Sunburst and is the closest tree I've seen in Australia to the balletic branches of the English larch. I was born and raised in the Lake District in the North West of England (please visit my home town of Ulverston in Cumbria on my Links page) and I came to live in Australia just over 30 years ago.

I enjoy propagating plants from cuttings: camellias, fuschias, hebes, dwarf daisies, pelargoniums and lavenders, to name just a few.

As I'm just 4'10" tall, I find it's the little things in life that give me most pleasure: butterflies, sunshine, the sounds of trickling water and little children giggling!

Why are butterflies on each of my pages?

Throughout my life wherever I've lived, butterflies have held a special fascination for me. These fragile, delicate creatures so sensitive to light and sound; shy, vulnerable and easily crushed continue to symbolise hope, freedom and change in this ever-changing world.

Emerging from their chrysalis; the hard cocoon which protects them during development, they open their wings to gracefully fly; enhancing our world with colour and spreading happiness...

so remember the butterflies and smile!