BLOOM BLOOM!

AN EXPLOSION OF SPRING FLOWERS BRINGS COLOUR BACK INTO YOUR WORLD!

1 Even before leaves return to deciduous trees, bluebells are active. They are one of the few bulbs that can be grown in part-shade. Try planting them under trees for your own private woodland.

The best way to experience the exuberance of spring is to be right in the midst of it. To walk in a field of daffodils, sit underneath a tree among drifts of bluebells, take in the tulips, chase floating petals of crabapple blossoms… As well as the profusion of spring-flowering bulbs and blossoms, late winter bloomers linger. Magnificent magnolia flowers are joined by fresh, limey foliage, beacons of camellias beckon and rhododendrons give a passing nod to their little cousins, the azaleas. All these may be too much to cram into a little backyard, but all and more are very much at home at Nooroo, a garden of National Significance at Mt Wilson in the NSW Blue Mountains. It shows you how to do spring!

2 The majestic trees that line the driveway are more than 100 years old, and their canopies cast enough shade for bluebells to shine. But even a five-year-old tree does the trick!

3 Your home may be modest, but your garden can be extraordinary!

4 When you plan on locking the lawnmower in the shed for winter, plant groups of daffodil bulbs in your lawn. This is what you’ll see now!