Snapshots, Ballarat

View of the Mining Exchange and Post Office, Lydiard St Nth.

Begonias at the Begonia Festival, Ballarat Botanic Gardens.

Snapshot, Carlton.

Photos of a slightly damp Carlton Gardens. It is closed off now for the STUPID Flower and Garden Show, which is so commercial and all about selling boring patios and watering cans. I really don't see why most of the exhibits couldn't be set up inside in the Exhibition Centre, or the Exhibition Buildings. It is basically a trade fair. There is a good piece here from The Greens about it back in 2008 and the same points still stand. I ranted about it last year. It mainly makes me cross because it damages the gardens so much. A lot of the grass still hadn't recovered from last year and it is now being covered in bricks and pavilions. Plus it is a public space, so many people walk in those gardens every day, or sit and eat lunch. for people in the inner city these are our green spaces, we don't necessarily have backyards. The gardens are closed off from Wednesday 17th March till Wednesday 31st. I might work up a longer post about it later, or I might write about Chaumont, which is a proper garden festival rather than just a glorified gardening shop. Actually the fact that it is such a rubbish event annoys me too. Other festivals like the Food and Wine festival encourage creativity and celebrate really interesting chefs and whatnot, but the garden festival doesn't do that, it celebrates very mediocre mass market gardens.

Telstra building in a puddle.

Snapshots - Greeves St, Fitzroy

Signs of spring and other things...

Busy busy.

Sorry for the blogging hiatus, am a busy bee. Hopefully be back soon with pictures and thoughts and whatnot. Still have a pile of Sydney photos to share, plus other ideas rattling round in my head.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney - Spring Walk

For some reason (possibly thesis induced brain failure) it hadn't really occurred to that it was Spring until I stepped into the Botanical Gardens in Sydney. I tend to have a habit of visiting gardens at completely the wrong time of year, think snow and ice and sculptures wrapped in black plastic. But for once I got it right, it was a gorgeous day, about 33 degrees. I took a mass of photos so stay tuned for more.

The gardens were founded on the 13th of June 1816. The spring walk in the photos below was first planted in 1856 with azaleas, rhododendrons and similar, under the directorship of Charles Moore, who was in charge of the gardens between 1848 and 1896. In the 1970s azaleas and wisterias were more dominant.



Recently in 2004 the Spring Walk was regenerated, the azaleas were thinned out and rhododendrons, wisterias and other spring flowering shrubs were added. You can see the dominance of the flowering peaches, cherries and plums, as well as a variety of bulbs, the tulips were particularly spectacular. there is so much blossom I almost feel this blog post needs a warning for hay fever sufferers!

Snapshot, East Melbourne

Some photos taken on the beautiful sunny winter's day on Tuesday. Possibly spent a little too much time photographing East Melbourne.

Spring in East Melbourne

I took a spring walk around East Melbourne this morning.

First I cut across the Eastern Side of the Fitzroy Gardens.


A square tempietto (small temple) or 'The Old Bandstand' as it is usually described, is a beautiful sculptural form. You can see that on the side facing me there are two pilasters with a sort of Egyptian inspired capital, on the entrance side the columns are free standing. I often see weddings here, though on my return through the park it was being used as a stage for some boxing practice. I love architectural features in gardens, but they seemed to have died out in the last 100 years in favour of sculpture. It is architecture simply for architecture's sake, for the enjoyment of looking at columns and capitals. Unlike a sculpture it can often be entered into, an experience which can change the way you see the space. For instance you can stand and look at the garden framed by the columns, actually I should have taken a photo of that! It can also be an expression of architectural creativity, without the constraints of function.

Next are the sculptures that adorn the Eastern entrance on Hotham St. These were designed by William Leslie Bowles, who also designed the statue of Diana and the Hounds which stands outside the Conservatory. The sculptures, creatively titled 'Mermaid and Fish' and 'Boy and Pelican', won the sculpture competition held in the gardens in 1935. I think it is a wonderful time to look at sandstone sculpture, when the sun falls upon it it almost shines deep ochre which is set off against the green of trees and grass and the blue sky that has finally returned to Melbourne.
The statues exhibit the streamlined classicism typical of Melbourne Art Deco.


Art Deco Apartments on on Powlett St. I don't know much about these apartments construction but I would guess a date in the 1930s. Two buildings curve to meet in the middle and create a semi-circlular garden area. The brickwork is delicate, not the way slightly darker brick on the entrance tower which give the pattern a rhythm and make it stand out from the main wing.
I also like the pared back classicism of the entranceway. With so many wonderful examples of apartments in Melbourne it upsets me that most modern ones are so atrocious. Not only is their appearance dull and uninspired but they lack good design. Here are a set of apartment which give an outlook onto a garden, most apartment must have windows on both sides so have good light and so on. My modern apartment rant must wait till another day.



Finally some blossoms on Hotham St. The wisteria (below) will be around for a while, but I though I should capture some cherry blossoms before the spring winds toss them away.