Each Christmas we search the Summerhome wilderness for a pretty pine tree small enough to sit on the big chest in the dining room. It’s not easy because the self seeded pines grow quickly. One year it is too small and the next it has shot up and become long and lanky.Tasmania has a reasonably mild climate and trees grow all year which has surprised visitors from Canada.
The wallpaper in the hall is very special, oral family histories tell us it was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1878. The paper is cracked and showing it’s age but when it comes away from the wall we just paste it back into place.
It’s all part of the history of Summerhome and our visitors who are given a tour of this historic house and garden love to see such original features. It’s wonderful to share our history with enthusiastic guests who can appreciate that Summerhome has not changed over the years.
Christmas dinner at Summerhome is a big family affair. It’s always been this way as long as we can all remember.
Every Christmas Day sometime in the middle of the afternoon between our meal and coffee we all gather for photos on the Summerhome front steps. It’s a tradition which goes back to 1917, maybe earlier but we don’t have any photos to prove it.
This collection of photos taken annually is a wonderful record of family and friends at Summerhome.
For a change we gathered the dogs for their own photo, they are not very good at looking at the camera.
This photo of a very old tree peony was taken early in Spring. It’s branches are long and wavy, some lie on the ground and the bark is gnarled with age. Every year it produces large magenta flowers which glow for a few days before dropping their petals. Luckily there are more buds waiting to open and these extend the flowering season.
I can remember when there were three ancient tree peonies in Summerhome garden but the white semi double (unnamed) and Ettiene de France have died.
We now have several Paeonia rockii planted down by the lower drive and near the cannon there is an enormous specimen of Paeonia ludlowii which glows yellow when in flower.
Here is the gable of the cottage as glimpsed between two ancient camellias. The brick wall which separates the cobbled yard from the garden can just be seen, it still retains some of the original limewash which was applied many years ago.
We have started counting the number of birds we have in Summerhome garden. Some are residents and some call in as they pass. The garden being in the middle of suburbia but having large mature trees probably looks a good place for a rest.
We have identified 27 different birds and are still counting, this is our list.
crescent honey eater, eastern spinebill, new holland honey eater.
silvereye, grey fantail, spotted pardolotte, tree martin, grey shrikethrush, superb fairy-wren.
yellow wattlebird, little wattlebird.
barn owl, grey butcherbird, white goshawk, austalian raven, kookaburra, collared sparrow hawk, tawny frogmouth.
yellow tailed black cockatoo, sulphur crested cockatoo, green rosella, white cheeked rosella, swift parrot.
house sparrow, spotted turtledove, european goldfinch, blackbird.
Winter in Summerhome garden and this dwarf shrub of Nandina domestica is a blaze of deep scarlet. A few bulbs are in flower but the main display is still weeks away. It’s a great time for cleaning away the dead perennials and lightly pruning the roses.
Marg had a wonderful evening with family and friends as she celebrated her birthday. Summerhome was the perfect venue. At 7.00 pm a soft misty rain started to fall so guests were met with umbrellas as they walked up the drive.
The front steps looked very welcoming as they were covered in a large red turkish carpet and everybody loved the gas heater on the verandah beside the front door. Just inside the hall Marg was serving glasses of champagne strawberry punch – very sparkly stuff.
The music being played in the dining room sounded wonderful as people came through from the hall. In these days of recorded music we forget how cheerful and stimulating live musicians are. Jim and Graham were fabulous and played a wide range of songs to suit everyone. They even knew some playschool numbers for Margo aged two.
As dinner was being served we listened to Xenos playing some beautiful Eastern European gypsy music and Margo danced on. It was a very happy party and only came to a close when someone realized it was 1.30am.
We are so lucky that our climate in Hobart, Tasmania is mild enough in the winter for flowers to bloom. Here is Safrano with soft new growth and beautiful flowers. It flowers all year in Summerhome garden, with extra flushes if it is lightly pruned during summer. The frosts add a rosy bloom to the outer petals.
This photo was taken in April when the ornamental grape by the iron gate was a blaze of red. When I showed the photos I had taken to a friend she thought it was a bougainvillea. The iron gate separates Summerhome garden from the stable and farmyard area.
It’s amazing how quickly the sun disperses the mist which writhes among the trees in Summerhome garden early on cold mornings. Even though the sun is low in the sky it still has some heat in it which we can enjoy when we find a sheltered corner.
