Saturday 22 September 2018

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?

 












17 comments:

  1. I heard on the radio this morning that the traffic was way back down to Gatton, Chel! Sounds like a lot of people heading up the range for the carnival. I also saw some of the gardens on the news last night, the flowers are just gorgeous. Meg:)

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  2. Meg, that is amazing. I went to the Farmers' Market early so I could get out of the area where the visitors would be parking as Queens Park is just across the road. Then I left it to the tourists to fight the traffic. LOL!

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  3. Oh yes Nanna Chel, they are gorgeous flowers!

    Looks and sounds like a lot of fun :)

    xTania

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    1. Tania, if you are ever over this way the Carnival of Flowers is a great event to attend. You would love it.

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  4. What a beautiful park. Thank you for sharing Chel.

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    1. Nil, we have a number of similar parks here and they are all beautiful at present.

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  5. Gorgeous photos Chel. We had an unexpected trip to Toowoomba today as Abby is in the Toowoomba Base Hodpital with a virus (RSV). We spent most of the day with them at the hodpital and then at about 3pm we visited Queens Park...loved it!

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    1. Maria, that is a shame about little Abby. I hope she recovers soon and can get back home. The park is certainly beautiful...and busy :-)

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    2. Hi, Maria. Just catching up now (4 days later) and wondering if Abby was fortunate enough to be discharged yet? My kids have been hit with virus/bacteria which dogged them all winter. It was the trend at the local schools as well.

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    3. Yes Chris, they were able to travel back home to Wandoan on Monday afternoon. Abby's mum is also recovering from a flu like illness that she come down with 2 weeks ago. Hope your kids are feeling a lot better too. This year has certainly been a bad one with 'bugs' that just hang on.

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  6. This is such an amazing event and I know it never disappoints. I wish I could visit every year, but it's quite a trek from here. The flowers are beautiful and I love the swimming pool. Enjoy all the amazing events Chel, it only happens once year. Pauline

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    1. Pauline, the flowers are always beautiful here in September. There is so much to see it is hard to choose where to go.

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  7. I try to avoid the carnival, due to how busy they've been getting every year. Which is great for the local economy, just not for this lass, who loses my bearings in crowds. David and the kids went though, and saw the carnival parade. They came home, exhausted and declared, "I love being home!" LOL. They had a good time though. :)

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    1. Chris, I usually lay low the week of the Carnival and visit the parks before it starts as it gets so busy here.

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  8. We had a lovely time Chel, and enjoyed our catch up with you both at Laurel Bank. The rest of our stay didn't disappoint either, and the private open gardens we saw were fabulous. I did a blog post but haven't had any 'visitors'....perhaps everyone's given up on me because it'd been so long since I posted 😆

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    1. Nanette, I have checked your post a couple of times and left a comment yesterday but it is not showing. Perhaps Blogger is playing up.

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  9. Thanks Chel, found you all, some in spam, others hadn't gone to my email for moderation. That's what happens when you neglect your blog, the gremlins get in and play :) Thanks for letting me know you'd commented. Fixed now I hope.

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