Walking the neighbourhood

Continuing the checklist of front gardens that reveal their owners’ personalities as you pass by on your daily constitutional.

Intellectuals. They like to grow things they can get their head around. Collections are their particular bag. Some grow nothing but camellias – or roses – and can quote the name of every hybrid cross. Rare orchids hold a special attraction, particularly Australian native orchids where a magnifying glass is often needed to ascertain whether they are in flower. If you spot a glasshouse, that may be a clue. Their appetite for catalogues is voracious, so check their letterbox too.

New parents. Easily spotted, these. Their balcony grows a stroller and a clothes drying rack. The hot pink bougainvillea they smuggled back from their Fiji honeymoon and planted carefully in the deep shade dwindles. Lack of sleep has halted all other gardening activities.

Greenies. A deep belief that the earth should be used productively rules their gardens. Every spare centimetre is usefully employed. There’s a compost heap in the corner, a lemon tree near the wall, a passionfruit climbing the fence. No flowers, only vegetables in the beds. There’s a tank to harvest rain water, solar panels on the roof, a bike parked beside the front steps. If they have left room for a small lawn, they mow with a push mower.

January 2019

Answers to QQ11.

a. Giverny. b. Versailles. c. Sissinghurst. d. Monticello. e. Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne