Gardens

 It is hard to describe the many garden displays that I saw in China this time, as I have done in past trips.  The streets are lined on both sides with amazing plant displays - different shrubs, trees and annuals line the streets and highways often a long way from the city or housing areas.  I have many photos, but they do not do justice to the wonderful displays.  Often I was in a bus or taxi passing some awesome gardening display, so not able to get the photos.  In May/June the Magnolias are in flower.  I was to learn that the flower lasts probably less than a day - certainly in some of the trees that I saw.

I like the way it is done, with the shorter/small plants in the front, and behind them something a little taller and the tall/larger ones behind.

Mass plantings of colour are in many places - impatiens, petunias, easy growing.

This statue in the main street of Shaoxing (Jiefung Lu) always has a wonderful display - as you can see - in pots.

Beside a walking path, and canal/river.  Beautifully manicured shrubs.

I lament that in Australia for the most part we have been conditioned to see much more greenery and native plants, which means that our landscape is made up of green and brown, with little bright colour.

The motorways that I travelled between Shanghai, Shaoxing, Cixi, Shangyu, and Hangzhou are wonderful displays of a wide variety of plants - and I can only guess that many of them are native to Asia, though of course Petunias are native to South America, and Oleander which is sporadically and untidily grown along the M1 is native to north Africa.

I look at the main roads and motorways - especially here in Queensland where there are more weeds and gardening disasters than anything that we can be proud of along the centre of our motorways.  Between Brisbane and the Gold Coast - especially at the southern end of the motorway there are better looking plants in the centre, but I am sure we could do better.  I know there is a cost - but I wonder if working on such a project could be what our Centrelink beneficiaries could be doing?  

Previously, I have seen the trucks pull up with trays and trays of seedlings (petunias and others) in pots, and the team of gardeners, often senior women, scurry around and under supervision either plant the seedling into the garden plot or create the display of potted plants.  They are watered frequently usually by a sole senior person with a wheel barrow contraption which holds water and a long pole with a bucket like thing on the end.

I look at the soil the seedlings/plants grow in, and it is hardly quality medium, but somehow it works for them.

I am in awe - am  so impressed!