Cloud Hill, Victoria - A lovely garden and nursery

[Lesley Cox]

Otto and I spent a couple of hours at Cloud Hill at Olinda, near Otto's home. It is a beautiful place with superb trees, especially beeches and hornbeams but many others as well. When I was last there in 2003 there were many spring blooming plants and much brighter colours but this autumn the colours were generally muted and greener, though with maples and the like firing up nicely.

Cloud Hill shows collections of pots and sculptures in the garden setting and some are stunning -and  very expensive. They are beautifully displayed among the trees, lawns and hedges. Below are selections of pots, sculptures, plants and I hope you'll enjoy them all.











I loved this seat and it would have come home with me if I could have arranged (and afforded!) it. O, let me rise as larks, harmoniously.

[Lesley Cox]

[Maggi Young]

What a super place, Lesley. To see items displayed in such a setting is a great way to encourage folks to buy these objects.....I am tempted by several, even at this distance!  the seat with the writing reminds me of the work of the late Ian Hamilton Finlay, whose garden "Little Sparta" is still an inspiration to many ....see here:   http://www.littlesparta.co.uk/

I don't doubt that some of these items are pricey, they look very smart and smart art costs !  but you would only have hurt yourself as you carried the seat home , anyway! And think of the excess baggage charges! On a more serious note, what would the carriage charges be from OZ to NZ? I would think there must be a fair amount of inter-trade, so perhaps the cost wouldn't be SO bad???!!
The BD, (when wearing another of his stylish hats) often has items shipped here from Oz, at reasonable cost, though they are mostly wooden objects and so less heavy and not too dear to ship.
The BD is going to love that person standing next to Otto, very much his taste ! Stone sculpture is  something  he hasn't got around to yet....he's carved out a few granite troughs, that's as far as his stone-masonry extends  meantime! 
Love your gift of the Eucalypt picture, by the way! Lucky Lesley!

[Paddy Tobin]

Many thanks, Lesley. Beautiful photographs. An excellent garden by all appearances. Would you describe this style of garden as typically Australian? It certainly has a resemblance of the English garden style.

Paddy

[TC]

Lesley.  This is exactly what I would like to see more of.  It's nice to see gardens in foreign locations which I will probably never get to.  How about Dunedin Botanical gardens.  Cindy and I were here in February 2005 which is your mid summer, so we missed all the Spring flowering plants

[Casalima]

Fascinating, Lesley. I also particularly loved the seat!

Chloë

[Brian Ellis]

A most enjoyable posting Lesley, I too would love to have the seat, but like many of us wouldn't find much time to use it.  As I am unable to travel that distance it is a real treat to see postings like this and those of the New Zealand trips.  Thank you all.

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you everyone for the comments. I plan to visit Otto and friends regularly, perhaps yearly if I can manage it and this garden is one I'll always want to include.

Maggi I don't know what the freight would have been but I could probably find out. A thought occurs to me. We here are hoping Ian will bring some of his bird (and flower?) paintings to NZ. But are they on wood? If so, MAF would maybe stop them coming in unless Ian could prove the wood had been heat treated or by some other anti insect method, before entering. Hopefully any little issue like this could be overcome in advance.

Don and I sat on the plane from Launceston to Sydney, next to a young and very charming and beautiful German girl. Don was in the middle seat and caught the mother of all doses of 'flu from her. I didn't get even a sniff, but as well as 'flu, she showed us a book she had bought recently in Africa. Inside, a regular diary but the outside was made of pressed and glued leaves. Very attractive and interesting but MAF here and in OZ, would have destroyed it out of hand if she'd declared it, which she didn't, never even thinking about it. But if it had been found, undeclared, she would have had major trouble with Australian MAF.

Re the sculpture in pic no 7 above, I wasn't sure which had the prettier face, the sculpture, or Otto, but didn't say so at the time in case Otto was looking at someone's laptop. I'll be in trouble myself, later on.

Some more pictures now.

This little summer house seemed to doze in the sun. There are lovely plantings of Hosta, Arisaema, Paris, and other cool things around. Best perhaps in the spring.





This smallish Nerine is grown in Oz as N. rosea. I've not seen anything quite like it here but it seems very vigorous and is a prettier colour than the garish N. bowdenii.



In a small amphitheatre, enclosed with hornbeam hedges, string quartets and small theatre groups give performances in the summer. A lovely setting and a lovely way to spend a summer evening, complete with glass(es) of wine.



One of two maples (Acer palmatum) said to be over 200 years old, and the oldest in Australia. They were moved to this garden from elsewhere, many years ago. They have been pruned to leave "caves" underneath and these are planted with hostas, heucheras, hepaticas etc.



This next pic shows both maples and a stunning pot, Otto apparently holding it up.



Here is the pot itself, and it is what I liked best in the whole garden. It is also of great interest to me as I think I may be relayed to the potter. It is the work of Robert Barron, from Victoria and my maiden name was Barron. My grandfather John Barron and his brother Robert left Aberdeen and came to NZ by way of America. John settled in Dunedin but Robert didn't like NZ and went on and settled in Victoria. Barron is not a common name so there's the possibility at least. I intend to do a little more research on the subject. Whoever the present Robert is, he makes superb pots.



The pot is wonderfully mounted on most attractive brickwork

[Lesley Cox]

Behind the pot, at the two corners opposite the maples are two lyrebirds. They are about knee height and they are minutely trimmed - as they were 3 and a half years ago when I first saw them. There's no possible mistaking what they are. Between the lyrebirds, stone steps go down to the little amphitheatre



And the fence beside one seems to be made of spears, though a bit wobbly!



There are lovely walkways with good planting. I remember big clumps of gold and bronze tulips and wallflowers from last time, interspersed with Euphorbia dulcis `Chameleon' and Spiraea `Gold Flame,' a combination I've reproduced in my own garden with some effect.



Salvia mexicana is a startling species with its unusual colours



On a separate lawn we found these odd, flat figures, all black except for this one which had some colour



Was I dancing with the Stars? or wolves? or the devil?



We were too early for the best autumn colour but Rhus species were good

[Lesley Cox]

And a final small batch. We had lunch at Cloud Hill in a very nice restaurant. It was a hot day but we ate indoors because there were wasps round the outdoor tables.

Three pics from the little garden centre, a pine tree in a pot, a brilliant maple and a little ceramic-topped table with irises











These two last pics from Cloud Hill show the view we had as we ate our lunch. Otto was well known at the restaurant ("Hello Daaaaarling!" "Hellooooo Darling"). Afterwards, and a little sadly, we called in briefly at Otto's house and then he took me to Melbourne airport. But I wasn't TOO sad, as I was on my way south to Tasmania.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Many, many thanks for this superb tour Lesley !!!

[Paddy Tobin]

Lesley,

I felt that the little summer house had a decided lean to the left as I viewed the photograph but I came to understand when I read later on of the string quartet and the glass(es) of wine which  might be imbibed while listening. Did the photographer partake, I wonder. Was that the same photographer dancing with the statuary later on, I wonder? Obviously, you had a good time.

But to be a little more serious, these last postings have shown a huge amount more of the gardens. They really are a wonder, obviously years of attention and hard work has gone into them. The photograph which, to me, showed your amazement at the whole place was that of the brickwork around the terracotta urn. It is perfect work and perfectly shows the attention to detail which seems to permeate every aspect of this garden.

Wasn't that Acer palmatum something fabulous? We don't see them at that age very often. I recall being so struck by one at Bodnant Gardens in North Wales. When they age they have the most fabulous structure of branches, something we don't associate with them as we generally see them as younger plants.

I can imagine that acer in the pot would have cost a pretty penny but what a plant to have in the garden, the kind to drop hints to family about for a big birthday present.

Lesley, wonderful photographs of a wonderful garden. I have never heard of it but if I travelled from Ireland to see it I am sure I would consider the journey well worth it.

Many thanks for the enjoyment. Great stuff. Loved it.

Paddy

[Lesley Cox]

You're right about the summerhouse Paddy, but why it's leaning I'm not sure. Certainly the building itself WASN'T leaning, and I, at that stage, hadn't had a drop. Nor was there a wind blowing me. I just must have had the camera at a silly angle. I've not yet been to Cloud Hill at concert time, a pleasure yet to come, I hope.