Today I had the day off work, originally taken off due to the fact that I was supposed to be going for a weekend away, cancelled due to flooding in the area where I was due to be staying. Instead of staying at home, I went out for the day and ended up at a couple of gardens north of Sydney.

The first was Mount Penang Garden on the Central Coast of NSW, about forty minutes from home. While only small, it was a very nice little garden that I hadn’t heard of until this morning. I had a very enjoyable time wandering around while the weather was dry.

This she-oak was one of the first trees that I saw. When there is only one on its pwn like this one, they are quite nice to look at, but if they aren’t controlled, they sucker so easily, ending up in stands of she-oaks only where nothing else is able to grow beneath them.

Tree ferns are always a favourite of mine. This one is a native of Australia, Cyathea cooperi.

The trunk on this eucalypt is rather knobbly and full of character, which is why I took the photo. I love the bark on gum trees-the colours, the wrinkles and even the feel of them (weirdly solid feeling, a bit like concrete) is so different to other trees.

It was nice to be in a wide open green space today, with views of parkland all around.

Bottle trees are always quirky trees to look at, the more random the better if you ask me!

This next plant I think is Phillip Island hibiscus, Hibiscus insularis, a rather pretty species that I have never come across before. More research is to be done I think!

There are plenty of banksias around at the park too. I do love banksias, especially the flowers.

This gum tree looked pretty impressive in its location. They never look small.

There is also a small succulent garden at Mount Penang Garden, here are a few of my favourites.

This id the palm lily, Doryanthes palmeri. These are related to the gymea lily, but aren’t used as often in gardens here in Sydney, but I think they look better.

This palm tree was also looking good in the sunshine today.

After leaving these gardens, I ended up going on further for a bit more of a drive and on one stop, I found these amazing flowers. They come from the African tulip tree, Spathodea campanulata. Again another tree that I haven’t seen before, which is why I love walking around new gardens.

I also found myself at a Japanese garden as well. It is connected to an art gallery that also really nice to walk around. These are the photos of some of this garden.

Today was a day that turned out really well. I had a really nice time finding new gardens and exploring them, It was also really nice to get out of Sydney for the day and see the sunshine and blue sky.