Inspiration in Hamilton's Gardens

Our children both study in Hamilton, an hour and a half away from us.  We have just had the occasion to visit them there.  We never tire of the gardens, candy for the eyes and food for the soul.  A morning at Hamilton's Gardens is inspirational! What a fantastic way to spend rate-payers money!  Well done, Hamilton District Council!!  This amazing public space is open to all, free of charge.  Allow yourselves at least 3 hours to see all the wonderful garden spaces.  Take a picnic and soak up the sunshine while admiring the mammoth creative genius that has gone into creating and maintaining this botanical wonderland!  Below is a gallery of snapshots to capture the essence of this magical place.

Ducklings bask in the morning sun, at the lake edge.

Making shadows on the carpet of flowers.

A glimpse of a bridge in the distance, reflected perfectly in the canal.  

The rose arbor.

A delighted fat bumble bee burrows busily in the beautiful blooms.
Methinks there's inspiration for budding poets in this beautiful space!

Fat, well-fed pigeons also enjoying the sunshine.

Beautiful avian "ornaments" in the English Garden.

I definitely want to try my hand at making one of these handy little garden support structures.

The Indian Garden

Peaceful reflection within the walled Indian-inspired garden.

The Maori Garden fencing provides security against marauding neighbours.

A great way to educate family members what to pick in the edible garden, when sent to collect something for the busy cook!

Neat rows of vegetables flanked by nasty-insect repelling marigolds in front.

Great support structure for rambling raspberries.

Emerging peas are given protection against marauding birds, as well as a structure to climb up.

Small canes spaced close together to support peas.

Brilliant Bean supports.

What ingenious garden architecture!

A bit of garden-path art in the edible backyard garden.

The movable Chook Tractor/ Chicken Run

Garden-Art Scarecrow guards the edible crops.

Anyone for a seat?  A concrete and mosaic resting place to contemplate the next gardening move.  Every garden should have one!  Note the mobile phones and old garden tools embedded in the seat.

Pappa, Mamma and Baby plant supports.

On our way to Hamilton, we stopped to take a picture of some cows in a field of yellow buttercups.  While taking photos, another car came screeching to a halt on the side of the road behind us, and out hopped an old fella who whipped out his mobile phone to also take a few shots of the cows.  In 5 minutes he had asked a host of questions and told me his entire life story, before hopping back in his car, waving farewell and rushing off again!  It's a funny old life!

We spied this beauty in the field on the way to Hamilton.

"Blessed are those, who delight in the small daily miracles of life."  quote by Mwa.