Winterwood

This gorgeous specimen Rosa 'Complicata' greeted us when we first arrived. MOTH couldn't contain his excitement in telling me I had a rose named after me!!!

The Rose Arbour was one of our most favourite features of the Winterwood garden. As normal MOTH was right under the structure examining the construction. To his amazement it just consisted of recycled timber posts with heavy galvanised chain strung loosely between them, to resemble a garland. The roses were then trained along the chain. What simple, but effective ingenuity!

More of the Rose Arbour - just breathtaking!

The garden is heavily mulched to preserve moisture & as there is no drip irrigation in place, hand watering with buckets supplements the annual rainfall - talk about a labour of love!

Big, bold, multi-clustered rose blooms around every corner.

Aphis have been a big problem this year for roses in the Hills, but the Kuchels have also noticed a larger than usual number of ladybirds & parasitic wasps in the garden, which has solved the aphis problem without the interference of chemical sprays.

Most of Merilyn's roses have come from a local grower in the Adelaide Hills town of Woodside. Some Suppliers dig up their roses, surround them with a sawdust mix, wrap them in plastic & then wait for a buyer, all the while the poor rose root ball is slowly, but surely drying out . When you order from Thomas for Roses, you arrange a pick-up date in advance & the day before, they are freshly dug, so are still moist & healthy on your arrival.

Walking alongside the rose arbour - it was lush & cool & soooo beautiful.

Iris, Roses, Oriental Lillies, Allum, Shasta Daisies, more Roses & much, much more!

Pink Watsonia sitting prettily under the awesome Irish Strawberry tree.

Purple Convolvulus cascading over a dry-stone wall along the driveway.

This really is a Sara Lee garden - layer upon layer of garden - just delicious!

Another lovely Rosa Rugosa species.

The traditional row of old roses bordering the vineyard area. The perfume from them was a total knock-out!

Underplantings of roses seem to be thriving despite the lack of direct sunlight.

Merilyn believes that random garden areas such as this planting of green & silver grey foliage allow for a greater appreciation of leaf forms & foliage contrast without the distraction of bright floral displays.

The garden shed is made from recycled bricks & contains Tim's wine-making equipment & a studio area for Merilyn to write. 'Golden Bunny' has been gently trained along the front wall & looks just fabulous basking in the full sun.

Tim's planted Pinot Noir on land that was once a Tennis Court. As you can imagine MOTH came home & immediately wandered down to our old Court area & started pacing out for vine plantings! Well, I guess that's one way I might finally see the end of his dodgey vegie garden & piles of scrappy fire wood scrounged from the Stirling Dump!

Clematis climbing up the wall of Merilyn's Potting Shed.

MOTH was totally enamored by this group of 5 Silver Birches planted symmetrically in a lawned area in the rear garden.

The Copper Beech, Gingko, Irish Strawberry, Cedar & Fir trees were all planted by previous Owners in the mid-1950's & provide such a pivotal anchor point for all the later plantings.

The meandering garden paths were carefully designed so as not to disturb the roots of all the old trees that have stood on the property since 1900.

We both fell in love with this gorgeous creature - but weren't able to find out what it is. If anyone knows please let me know!

MOTH furiously taking notes - this is Rosa 'Wedding Day' & we loved that it was growing so vigorously in a shaded position under a large tree. Boy, have we got just the spot (x 50!) for this beauty at our place!

At the end of Winterwood's driveway is the quintessential Aussie Gum tree!

All images Millie

On Sunday MOTH & I escaped the renovations for a couple of hours to visit the most wonderful garden a couple of streets away from us here in Stirling. Winterwood is owned by Merilyn & Tim Kuchel who are locals, & they've spent the past 15 years totally making-over their house & cottage garden. Merilyn has been involved with the Australian Open Gardens Scheme for many years & is one of the most passionate & dedicated gardeners I know.

After wandering around, we left totally invigorated - with lots of ideas & much inspiration. Their daughter Eleanor is getting married in the garden of Winterwood on New Year's Eve & wow, what a stunning environment to have such a special celebration.

I hope you enjoyed this stroll around Winterwood as much as we did.