Canterbury Gardens

Ahh, Canterbury Gardens.

I love this place. It's right next to Maling Road, a quaint, old-timey, cobble stone street with bakeries and a candy shop where you can get all sorts of cool stuff and if I let myself I'll ramble on for hundreds of words about how nice Maling Road is but this is about the Gardens.

Far from flat, the Canterbury Gardens are not for ball sports or any other sort of ruckus-causing. The Gardens are for nice things. Picnics, strolls naps, books and the like. If you want to go and kick a footy around, go to Central. If you want to go on a date and seem unbelievably romantic, grab a basket, wine and cheese it and head to Canterbury Gardens. You can lie in the grass on a hill in the sun or relax in the rotunda (supposedly. Gazebo? Undercover bit? I don't know.) which was built in 1909 and has been refurbished twice since.

The fact that the park is designed for nice things does not mean that it isn't well utilised for all sorts of gatherings, including barbecues and weddings.

There are a couple of planting beds around the Gardens, however there is more of a focus on trees and open space. This being said, the plantings tend to be immaculate in their design and maintenance.

Salvia leucantha

PLANT PROFILE:
Salvia leucantha
Family: Lamiaceae.
Origin: Mexico
Leaves: Simple, opposite, lanceolate to 150mm long. Grey-green upper surface, white underneath.
Flowers: Long raceme-like stems of densely packed small flowers above the leaves. The woolly calyx is rich purple-mauve, opening to reveal a white corolla, from late summer to early winter. 


Salvia leucantha is quite a drought-tolerant plant and does quite well in full sun and moist but well drained soil. The purple calyces of S leucantha  stick around after flowering, extending the season of display well into winter. S leucantha should be cut to the ground in early Spring . It is easily propogated using cuttings.



Information sourced from:
The University of Melbourne 2012, Burnley Plant Guide, University of Melbourne, Parkville viewed 2 May 2012, <www.bpg.unimelb.edu.au>
iGarden 2012, Salvia leucantha, iGarden viewed 2 May 2012, < http://www.igarden.com.au/plant-type.jsp?t=Salvia%20(J-O) >
Easy Weddings 2012, Garden Weddings - Canterbury Gardens, Easy Weddings viewed 2 May 2012 <http://www.easyweddings.com.au/garden_weddings/wedding_location.asp?garden=4>
Google Earth image from "Google Earth iPhone app", Google 2012 viewed 31 March 2012