gardening

gardening   November 11, 2023

Tendrils in the night

The curl of possum tails around branches evokes for the author the unsettling sentience of climbing plants and things that grasp.

gardening   September 30, 2023

The liminal garden

Life in the garden is about the balance of seasonal temperatures, light and shade, kindness and cruelty – and sometimes it’s about the spaces in-between.

gardening   August 12, 2023

The germinator

Determined not to add to her pile of plastic pots, the author embarks on the meditative practice that is raising seedlings.

gardening   July 8, 2023

Détente with the daffodils

In the midst of a deathly, monotone winter, life is getting ready to burst out – including the narcissists of the plant world.

gardening   May 27, 2023

The moth vine encroaches

The moth vine casts its shadow over the garden, from which the author manages to salvage a benediction.

gardening   April 15, 2023

Cultivating memories

What began as a fresh and neatly paved area transformed over the years into a lived space of success, failure and memory.

gardening   March 11, 2023

Feeding on imperfection

The gardening media has no place for the compromised gardener, who finds beauty in ugliness, bounty in neglect and hope in the unruly silverbeet.

gardening   January 21, 2023

The communal garden

From a Melbourne backyard to community cultivation in Manila’s slums, the garden offers autonomy, human connection and a firmer footing in a turbulent world.

gardening   September 10, 2022

Spring in Chaucer’s garden

The same restless energy and wildness that stirred the pilgrims is alive in the gardens of inner-city Melbourne.

gardening   June 18, 2022

A quiet winter of neglect

A reflection on the lilies of Galilee, the orchid of the building site and the karmic power of poo bags.

gardening   March 12, 2022

The dark curse of lantana

A toxic plant, allowed to thrive due to wilful ignorance, becomes an invading force that threatens to take root beyond the borders of one small urban garden.