Summer in the Bible Garden

19 Dec 2019 by Justin Aquilina

I was delighted to witness the first stirrings of spring in the garden this year as it awakened the beautiful and rare Montana Tulips. By mid-September all the flowers of the field had blossomed in a dappled array of colour amidst the grasses. This year, spring was marked significantly for me as we also welcomed in our beautiful dark-haired daughter, Elora Grace. Little Ellie arrived earth side on 14 September, on that first weekend of Floriade, just as spring had really started to take hold of the garden. Life was really flourishing everywhere in colourful bloom. Next, the blossoms of the fruit trees came out and began attracting the bees and the pollinators with their delightful aromas. The exquisite garlic and onion plants began to form their flowers in preparation for their regenerating cycle as they spread their seeds on the late spring winds.

Now, in the early throws of a hot and dry summer, everything in the Bible Garden is building towards the peak of mid-summer. Lushness abounds; from the grapevines spreading lavishly over the gazebo like an intoxicating Mediterranean feast to the heavily laden apricot tree, weighed down with a sudden abundance of fruit. And finally, but most alluring of all, the mulberry tree invites you in to the centre of the garden with her decadent foliage, offering a moment of shade from the harsh sun. Let her seduce you into the garden to listen and take in the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind. Perhaps come and sit for a while by the olive trees and the grape vines and send a prayer for rain for our blazing forests this Christmas.

As the calendar year comes to an end, I have been reflecting on the regular work (weeding, pruning and planting) needed at the Bible Garden and ask if you might consider helping. I’d like to have a working bee at the end of summer.

If you’re interested, email acc-c@csu.edu.au your availability.