This is our personal Phoenix, rebuilt with the
original walls from 1850 or so, after the extensive
bushfire of 1983, which devoured 76 homes including
ours. Not much survived in the historic garden as well.
The house itself stands on the ridge of Mt.Lofty at an
elevation of 650m, overlooking Gulf St.Vincent and
Adelaide, the capital of South Australia on the western
side, and on the other, the eastern foothills and on a clear
day Lake Alexandrina at the mouth of the Murray River
some 100km as the crow flies, to the east.
As you come into the yard from the driveway,
the first thing that strikes your eyes is this
magnificent Camellia tree. Three of these were
planted in front of the original house probably
in the early 1850's. They have withstood the
force of two major bushfires and managed to
regrow again. This one has recovered much
better than it's siblings which were closer to the
front porch and much more severely burnt.
Close up of the Camellia whose name has been lost
in the depths of time.
The shadow on the gravel is from a Beech my
husband planted, The flowering crab apple is
Malus floriunda.
On the right a massive Snowball bush, another
survivor, burnt to the ground and regrown.
Looking up to the back of the house over
terraces of lilacs,
Syringa vulgaris, in lilac
purple and white.
View from one of the dining room
windows towards the west.
My precious white
Rhododendron, before the fire
the size of the Crabapple above, has taken 25 years
to regrow to this. Again, the name has disappeared
into the mists of history.
Looking up fron the eastern terraces in spring
'Papa Meilland' and 'Mr.Lincoln' on our bedroom wall
Taken through my car window heading down the drive,
a kangaroo grazing in the orchard with a backdrop of
Camellias, Rhododendrons and bare Oak tree.
This is just a fleeting impression of the three acre
garden that surrounds the new old house.
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