tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post25913592740939448..comments2023-07-17T04:07:46.354-07:00Comments on Gardener in the Distance...gardening and belonging in Ballarat.: Among the Trees...Gardener in the Distancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-62631140153245870222012-10-30T12:56:49.646-07:002012-10-30T12:56:49.646-07:00Well, it's not so bad, Catmint. It might be I ...Well, it's not so bad, Catmint. It might be I just need to find a new approach. Like you, though, a change of scene might help! Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-83637058143524430612012-10-30T05:37:57.519-07:002012-10-30T05:37:57.519-07:00that book looks beautiful. I'm sorry you'r...that book looks beautiful. I'm sorry you're sick of gardening.. I have been feeling a bit flat lately, and realize I need to get out of the city and camp somewhere wild for a bit. Sue Catminthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14242341696447975933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-76311202427547052572012-10-24T15:31:43.166-07:002012-10-24T15:31:43.166-07:00especially in the edge seasons, spring and fall.especially in the edge seasons, spring and fall.Velma Bolyardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12446502295849533888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-67030939924277967192012-10-24T04:02:57.544-07:002012-10-24T04:02:57.544-07:00Hello Jane and Lance,
it's funny you should s...Hello Jane and Lance, <br />it's funny you should say that, because I'm really sick of gardening, at one level, and long to simply care-take a landscape of trees and grass. <br />No more digging and planting and worrying and weeding. All I want is a view and all I want to do is wander in it. <br />I'd love to see the Banks' garden - I'm sure there'd be specimens there dating way back. <br />Fortunately, a great deal of our landscape remains wild, or near to wild, or unpopulated. I'll let you know when I own a bit of it!Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-74386176935670821922012-10-24T03:56:48.145-07:002012-10-24T03:56:48.145-07:00Hi Velma. I wonder if it's the late domesticat...Hi Velma. I wonder if it's the late domestication of our two countries that's left an imprint of their wildness? I don't know, but I do know you have some splendid and varied examples. Here, as I'm sure it is there, it's the light that makes such a difference.Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-27935393079370994262012-10-23T08:10:28.674-07:002012-10-23T08:10:28.674-07:00Hello Faisal:
Yet again, you delight us with a mos...Hello Faisal:<br />Yet again, you delight us with a most wonderful book. The photography is stunningly atmospheric and does speak of a time when Australia was untamed, wild and beautifully raw.<br /><br />And, always, there are connections. When we gardened in Herefordshire we were near neighbours to the Banks family whose house and garden was nearby. Descendants of the plant hunter, Joseph Banks, they gardened with similar passion and they had the most remarkable collection of trees.<br /><br />We never tire of saying that trees we believe to be the purest form of gardening. Indeed, if we were to garden again, it would be with trees...just trees....Jane and Lance Hattatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16831890261259302647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-85210181198318870512012-10-21T14:44:04.476-07:002012-10-21T14:44:04.476-07:00faisal, you appear to have the gift for finding bo...faisal, you appear to have the gift for finding book jewels! excellent book, and lovely post. australian trees are so different, and yet so similar to north america's.Velma Bolyardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12446502295849533888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-85862948570468179452012-10-21T04:41:22.537-07:002012-10-21T04:41:22.537-07:00Hello Kirk,
I know what you mean. The strangeness...Hello Kirk, <br />I know what you mean. The strangeness of this country can be confronting as can adolescence be. <br />For me, I've always loved the wildness, the lack of human intervention, but I've also loved what I've perceived as an incredible softness and vulnerability. Our marsupials, for example, are largely discreet creatures, non-aggressive, herbivorous. <br />What isn't always acknowledged is Australia's fineness; every little corner of it has continued in a workable peace for thousands of years.Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-82111768320003919152012-10-21T04:32:10.439-07:002012-10-21T04:32:10.439-07:00Roger, yes, this book was considered one of the be...Roger, yes, this book was considered one of the best dozen published in Australia in 1956. <br />I like the strangeness. It's not so strange, after all. It's wild, our landscape, but it's also delicate. <br />Thankyou for your comment.Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-34403783451588308562012-10-20T10:06:51.304-07:002012-10-20T10:06:51.304-07:00Dear Faisal,
The photography in this book is quite...Dear Faisal,<br />The photography in this book is quite wonderful. <br />Being a young immigrant from northern climes in the early 1970s, I used to think that Australian trees were boring. Boring colour. Boring shape. Boring boring boring. But my father taught me otherwise and it is through his love of nature and his affinity to it and all that it consists of, that I grew to understand and to love the differences in all trees, and why it is important that they should 'be'. <br />I think that my acceptance of Australia's flora became part of my acceptance of Australia (read 'Victoria') as a place to call home after some years of rebelliousness but I guess that came out of not having wanted to be transplanted (like a tree) from one country to another in the first place! <br />Looking at the pictures from your book, and reading your post, reminded me of all this!<br />KirkAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642768891794895642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-12170987726618713792012-10-20T06:25:04.628-07:002012-10-20T06:25:04.628-07:00A most beautiful book! And post... What fantastic ...A most beautiful book! And post... What fantastic and strange trees you have over there.Roger Latourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05673755581912016249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-55058200678805714402012-10-20T03:43:26.773-07:002012-10-20T03:43:26.773-07:00Hi Carol. I hope your trip brings you many highlig...Hi Carol. I hope your trip brings you many highlights. I've never been to Brisbane ( or anywhere else, for that matter ) but I hope it doesn't ever suffer the drought we recently went through. <br />Our plants, so noble, aren't they, to keep surviving these awful conditions? And so many of them are so humble, so un-aggresive. I belong here, out among the tough lands, and am grateful for knowing them.Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-9496987604376335132012-10-20T03:37:36.543-07:002012-10-20T03:37:36.543-07:00The world is a book I garden in.The world is a book I garden in.Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-32075580232643923072012-10-20T03:36:29.854-07:002012-10-20T03:36:29.854-07:00Hi Paul. Yes, trees watch the world go by. They of...Hi Paul. Yes, trees watch the world go by. They offer refuge. They are obliged to keep standing when they may well want to lie down. For me, as a boy, they offered security and friendship, as they still do. Thankyou. It wouldn't be much of a world without them, without their canopies and their striving, would it?Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-8563930940768659262012-10-20T03:28:56.970-07:002012-10-20T03:28:56.970-07:00You'll have to get a few more cool-climate gum...You'll have to get a few more cool-climate gums, Dave, and some of our alpine plants ( we do do snow, you know. I'm sure you know. ) What the dickens are deer eating eucalypts for? No more sherry left out for them Christmas Eve, I can tell you.Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-26207403861667163362012-10-19T22:09:14.062-07:002012-10-19T22:09:14.062-07:00Faisal, you nearly had me in tears between Mountfo...Faisal, you nearly had me in tears between Mountford's words and photos, and your own. I'm in very hot Brisbane right now, having driven slowly from Sydney, and about to head out west tomorrow. Everywhere I've been, this wide brown land is hot and dry. Smoke from bush fires hangs over Ipswich and Brisbane, as it did on my own NSW Central Coast as I left home. But beautiful and magical, the land never loses its charm for me. I wish we were better land keepers than we seem to be.Carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01914350639398715648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-33777934445499874632012-10-19T18:25:00.813-07:002012-10-19T18:25:00.813-07:00You garden in books!You garden in books!James Goldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12718058779971621920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-52086631495383089172012-10-19T13:29:23.943-07:002012-10-19T13:29:23.943-07:00Trees are metaphors for strength and beauty, for l...Trees are metaphors for strength and beauty, for longevity, they are endowed with majesty. Trees are constant witnesses. A beautiful book. I too love trees. Thank you for sharing.Paul Steerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16934578411450049838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-45117089325662511092012-10-19T09:35:25.376-07:002012-10-19T09:35:25.376-07:00Indeed. There must always be trees, Faisal and I ...Indeed. There must always be trees, Faisal and I too must always be amongst them (though my only snow gum has just been lacerated by deer. Flipping ingrates). DaveDavid Marsdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10194429506546837258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-34825084629929148482012-10-19T06:04:43.509-07:002012-10-19T06:04:43.509-07:00Hi Demie,
spring's amazing, after all the win...Hi Demie, <br />spring's amazing, after all the winter. As autumn must be for you, after the strong light of summer. <br />You know, I always love trees.Gardener in the Distancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14478393904059307841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079722435186265697.post-9074928301576299322012-10-19T05:42:03.715-07:002012-10-19T05:42:03.715-07:00Hello Faisal!
Another wonderful book in your hands...Hello Faisal!<br />Another wonderful book in your hands. <br />I love the title "Tree portraits"<br /><br />Enjoy a lovely spring : )erleichdahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02471341634223594648noreply@blogger.com