Sentimental Journey
This is a thing I wrote just before signing the papers to sell my share of what had been my home from when I was 17 and had saved the deposit to purchase it, till I left there almost 26 years later...
When I sell my share of the house I will be giving up my world; it may not seem a hard thing to do since I haven't been there in almost three years; it is only 100'X80', but it was mine I knew every square inch of my yard and every plant within it's limited boundaries, sometimes I would see a new plant, a gift from the birds and I always loved to wait and see what gift they had given me. Their best gifts are in the back corner of my garden, they gave me several now large Umbrella Trees, the leaves are a dark glossy green and tree frogs love them and at night I hear them calling from there. In the summer these trees flower and soon attract the beautiful, but noisy Rainbow Lorikeets; from my deck near the pool I can watch their antics as they devour the seeds. The dark green of the leaves, the spectacular color of the birds against the beautiful blue of the pool with the children splashing and swimming happily in it are a thing of real beauty.
In the front yard right near my pond there are ferns that I had never seen before, they just appeared one day, their tiny little leaves were unfamiliar to me, they were no plant or weed that I recognised so as always when I met a new plant I let it live to see who it was. Thinking of my pond which was nothing on a grand scale in the scheme of things but the local wildlife truly appreciated that I had made it for them, right now there would probably be clumps of eggs floating in it or tadpoles swimming around, every rainy night I could hear the call of the Striped Marsh frog, an odd popping sound which we took forever to track down when we first heard it. There would be Noisy Minors drinking at my pond on these hot summer days, I loved to see the birds who found my garden to be like an oasis in the desert.
I planted an assortment of baby trees there almost 29 years ago and picked some small Eucalypts that would be allowed to stay in their native habitat, as the years passed and my trees grew, I under planted them with Callistemons, Leptospermums, Grevillias, Melaleucas, these small trees have beautiful flowers of varying colors, reds, pinks, yellows and whites all of which attract many birds. Speaking of birds; tiny little Yellow Eyes were the first birds I ever saw nest in any of my trees, it was so amazing to see them choose my yard for their home, then a couple of years later I recall as Aaron and I sat for two hours watching as a Dove built her nest in a Eucalypt tree just outside our dining room window.
Over the years I changed my "native only" plan for the trees in my yard and planted some fruit trees, so one quarter of my yard became a mini orchard; at the side near my aviary there is a Mango tree, then a Whompee a rare fruit tree which I thought may be interesting, between it and the house there is a Macadamia nut tree with a history.... when my Mother died her Macadamia nut tree was about to fruit for the first time ever, before her house was sold I picked the first three nuts from that tree and planted them in my yard, two grew and by three years ago the one survivor was about 12' high and by now would probably be mature, along a little further is a Tropical Apple tree which would probably be mature enough to fruit now, near the Apple tree are my Youngberry vines, then next is an Ice-cream Bean tree who's fruit tastes like vanilla ice-cream, then a few clumps of banana trees near the compost bins...oh and the best of all I almost forgot my Lychee tree, lychees are the most luscious delicious fruit I have ever tasted and my tree now fruits abundantly, near the back of the house is a Chocolate Custard tree... you guessed it the fruit tastes like chocolate, then next to is a Five Corner Fruit tree, along a little further is my Avocado tree and last but not least my Custard Apple tree and a passionfruit vine. These are all just in one half of my backyard along with one large Eucalypt tree and a few other native trees including a Melalueca, the type that ti-tree oil comes from.
The other corner of the back yard is home to the 30'X15' swimming pool which has palm trees and flowering hibiscus on both sides one the side nearest the neighbors is my Bird of Paradise plant, a thing of real beauty which I dug from my Mother's garden after she died. As well as these trees and shrubs there are lots and lots of ferns, a little piece of heaven.
Down the side where the house is only 10' from the fence line I have Papaya trees, Palm trees and flowering hibiscus, then on to half of the front yard, which is almost completely covered by a Eucalypt tree which was a twig with three leaves when I discovered it. There are many native shrubs under planting this my favorite tree, and the kids trampoline is placed there where there is shade all day long so they could go out there and play whenever they want, right near the trampoline is the little two story play house I made them with a sand box next to it. Planted near the playhouse is a beautiful palm tree, which Rob gave me for Mother's day 10 years ago. In summer there would be a little wading pool nearby so they could cool off in this shady spot when it was too sunny to swim in the real pool.
The other side of the front yard has two large Eucalypts and many tree ferns, palm trees and assorted native flowering shrubs, along with my fish ponds and a small area of grass where I could sit and watch as the children played or we could sit quietly together watching the assorted birds and lizards who lived in our garden. Just off this grassy patch is a garden with some rose bushes, most of which were gifts from Aaron, and near one of them I put the last of my Mother’s ashes after returning from the beach and casting the rest of them onto the sea. Near the house with a verandah built around it is a large Cocos Palm, it is about 30' high and had clusters of fruit that look and taste like miniature coconuts, when the tree flowers it attracts hundreds of Rainbow Lorikeets who came to feed on the nectar and when the fruit is ripe it has an orange colored pulp covering the nut which attract Flying Foxes [fruit bats], they feed on the fruit at night and while sitting out on my verandah the night's quiet is often broken by the sound of the nuts falling. This palm tree is another connection to my Mother, it was a potted plant in her living room and when it became too large she asked if I would like it.
The fruit from this tree germinated readily and I had several new trees of a good size so having run out of space in my yard I planted a row of them on my sidewalk with Bottlebrush trees between them. Knowing the grass would die between the line of trees and my yard I paved a 3' wide path with bricks. Many people stop there in the shade on hot days when walking to or from the shopping center or school. It's a good chance to chat with neighbors, and see the pleasure they get from looking into my miniature rainforest from what was once a barren sidewalk, but is now a part of the wonder. Sometimes a person would sit in the shade and rest a while. I really enjoyed seeing that happen and planned on building a bench seat out there.
My trees and plants mean so much to me, but in within a month they will no longer be mine. Twenty nine years ago it was a block of bare earth caked hard like cement by the harsh sunlight but I toiled and sweated many long hours trying to get anything at all to grow in that desert, I almost despaired of ever having any grass grow there, much less such delicate things as ferns. But I did it! It is a little bit of heaven and I created it. But I will never again walk in "my garden" because if ever I return there it will no longer be mine.
When I sell my share of the house I am selling a part of my soul, my history that which ties me to my past, to my childhood, my Mother, my marriage and my babies.
Sue
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