Beautiful flowers despite the drought

Yesterday I visited the beautiful Laurel Bank Park with one of my local friends and a blogging friend and her friends who travelled from interstate for our Carnival of Flowers which has just begun. Despite the drought the council gardeners have once again been successful in presenting the most beautiful flowers to the appreciative visitors who have been enjoying lovely spring weather in which to walk through the many gardens in the park.

As there is always a different theme each year at Laurel Bank Park I was interested to see what this year's would be and it is the XX1 Commonwealth Games. As sometimes it is a bit hard to actually see the theme in each garden, there is an explanation there with a photo taken from a cherry picker which makes it clearer.

This park often features something quirky and we had a laugh at the 'Swimming Pool'...

...which not only had a swimmer racing along...

...but also a shark after her. LOL!

Look at that beautiful green lawn. I think that bore water is used to water the parks but I might be wrong. Our lawn out the front looks quite dead with no patches of green in it at all. Hopefully it will recover if/when it rains again.

Photos don't do the flowers justice as they are absolutely stunning.

You can see Thomas the Tank at the left of this photo and the flowering trees beside the train line the pathway.

I always think of my grandchildren when I see Thomas as they have all been Thomas fans from a young age. First the girls and now the boys. They have never been to the Carnival of Flowers as they aren't on holidays at that time of year which is a shame as it would be so lovely for them to see the gardens which are a far cry from the dry and dusty Outback town where they live.

There didn't seem to be as many tulips in the park this year for some reason but I did notice a lot in Queens Park. Perhaps this was due to the weather. I have never grown tulips so wouldn't know if the recent warm weather would have bothered them.

So if you are visiting during the next week don't forget to visit this park. The Teapot Extravaganza has begun and from the number of cars parked outside the church venue where it is held I would say it is already very popular. It finishes next Saturday.

There is so much on that it is hard to decide on what to go to. We usually go to the Bromeliad Show and buy one that we don't have but, as we have so many, that is not on the list of things to do this year. Then there is the Clivea Show and The Chronicle Garden Competition gardens to visit. Oh dear, it is so hard to choose :-)

 

I hope those who are visiting really enjoy our beautiful parks and gardens. If you happen to miss out don't forget the Lost Trades Fair is on in a few weeks time on the 6th and 7th October. Be there early as this event was extremely popular last year.

Now....should I start packing up the kitchen 'stuff' next week or visit one of the Carnival events?