Flowers to cheer - Kandy Shepherd

With some of the stuff going on in the world right now, there seem to be so many unpleasant things cluttering up my social media. I want to see something pleasant!

Autumn roses in my garden

So I thought I’d share some photos of my autumn/fall garden—Down Under in Australia that is! (I always find it a little difficult to get my head around the reversal of the seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres!)

Claret ash starting to colour

Our little farm has a lovely garden, planted by various people before us, dating back to 1928. We’ve added our own plantings over the years we’ve had the garden.

An abundance of camellias

Where we’re located in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, we have distinct seasons and a cold winter. Not cold like some of my northern hemisphere friend’s winters—we very rarely have snow although the frosts can be punishing. But it’s distinct from the sub-tropical climate that, say, Sydney enjoys where the winter is relatively mild.

Bees like the autumn garden

 Spring is my favorite time in this garden, thanks to the spring-flowering bulbs, blossoming fruit trees, roses and iris that thrive in this climate. But autumn is my next favorite when the leaves color and camellias are in bloom.

The shy charm of violets

It’s been a few weeks since I took these photos and frosts have wiped out some of the greenery. 

This rose is called Perfumed Perfection and it smells divine!

But there are still a few hardy roses and the sasanqua camellias are thriving. Soon the hellebores and jonquils of winter will be adding some color to the bare trees.

My cat Cindy likes her bed of autumn leaves

What’s your favorite season of the year? I’d love to read your comments!

Kandy’s most recent book Conveniently Wed to the Greek is a May 2017 release from

Harlequin Romance in North America; Mills & Boon Cherish in the UK; and Mill & Boon ForeverRomance in Australia and New Zealand.

Kandy Shepherd is a multi-published, award-winning author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives on a small farm in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her family and a menagerie of four-legged friends.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Connect with Kandy on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram

In bloom - Kandy Shepherd

It's spring Down Under and this month I'm sharing some recent snaps from my farm garden.

I wish I could share the glorious fragrance of the climbing rose Zepherine Drouhin that grows near our vegetable garden

My dear husband put in a lot of work over the winter (I was too busy writing to share much of the burden!) and our cottage-style garden is looking its best.

Our flowering cherry - sadly no fruit!

We have a cool winter and a hot summer and fruit, iris, roses and spring-flowering bulbs thrive.

I love columbines

In the last weeks the iris have been superb and the roses have just started.

Our climate is perfect for iris

We had the threat of bushfire last week but thankfully all we could smell was the fragrance of roses.

I love the bold shape of artichoke, here with clematis and sage in flower at the front

We grow vegetables too though it can be a hit or miss affair as to when we actually get them planted!

Lots of lettuce!

The cats are constant companions in the garden and tend to photo bomb any opportunity they can.

Rhubarb, too - those are its flowers that I cut off so all the growth goes into the edible stems

The horses, little bulls and chickens all contribute to the garden with fertilizer. 

Cindy is always nearby

My husband often lets the horses into the garden but not so much at the moment as the lettuce is a huge attraction. They nibble on the camellias too which makes me rather cranky!

Ivy helps too

At the moment I’m writing a story that features a rather grand garden. Mine is not on such a scale but it is lovely to be able to walk outside and feel inspired.

My husband worked all his winter weekends to put in this new path

Are you of the green-thumbed or brown-thumbed type of gardener? Do you have a favorite flower? Do you enjoy growing vegetables or herbs? I’d love to know!

Make a comment to be in the draw for a signed copy of my Christmas book for Harlequin Romance Diamond In Her Stocking. Please include your email address in your comment if you want to be included in the draw.

Kandy’s third Dolphin Bay story for Harlequin Romance, A Diamond in Her Stocking, goes on sale on December 1, 2014 and is available for pre-order now

Kandy Shepherd is an award-winning author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives on a small farm in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her family and a menagerie of four-legged friends.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Connect with Kandy on Facebook and Twitter

Roses, roses, roses - Kandy Shepherd

My rose garden is glorious right now—and I’m reveling in it. In my part of Down Under it’s autumn, and this is the second flush to follow the first burst of blooms in spring—though I’ve had roses in the garden all through summer.

There's something special about a perfect, pink rose!

For several years, I was the editor of a gardening magazine. I sent photographers and writers to beautiful gardens all over Australia. Sadly, I rarely got to leave my desk to see them for myself. When the images came in, I’d “ooh” and “ah” along with the rest of the office. My favorites were always the large country gardens with lots of roses—and boy did I envy the owners!

At last! My very own country rose garden...

I still can’t believe my luck in now having a country rose garden of my own. We bought our little farm to keep horses (my daughter’s passion) but the bonus was that it came with a beautiful garden planted with lots and lots of roses.

Miss Cindy thinks she's way more beautiful than any rose!

There are other beautiful plants, too, in fact we have flowers all year round thanks to the foresight of the lovely lady who sold us the house.

We planted Double Delight for its heady scent

 Although we “inherited” most of the roses, we’ve also planted new plants of our own choice. We didn’t just choose for looks, we also considered perfume. In full bloom, the scent wafting inside from the roses is intoxicating!

I don't know the name of this David Austin English rose but isn't it beautiful?

 On the gardening magazine, we interviewed rose experts from all over the world. Some roses were recommended over and over again: Lamarque, a white climber that has been delighting gardeners since 1830; Gold Bunny (who couldn’t love a rose named after the Lindt chocolate Easter bunny!); Zephirine Drouhin, a shocking pink climber with a sensational scent; Pierre de Ronsard, an exquisite pink cabbage-rose; New Dawn, a vigorous climber.

Zepherine Drouhin really is that color

I’m pleased to say they’re all in my garden—along with a wonderful collection of David Austin English roses which I am gradually identifying.

New Dawn clambers over the arch

And we don't just enjoy them outside—there's also the joy of bringing them inside the house, by the bucket load at their peak. No way could I ever afford such lavish bunches of roses from a florist!

A selection from my garden picked a few weeks ago

Of course abundant roses don’t come without some work. Pruning all those roses is a big job, but thankfully my husband has become interested and tackles most of it.

They look beautiful inside as well as in the garden

Fertilizing is important—roses are described as “gross feeders” which really does sound gross, doesn’t it? Our horses and miniature Dexter steers help out there—sometimes by direct deposit into the garden bed when my husband lets them into the garden to enjoy long grass!

Thanks Toby for help with fertilizer!

With all this interest in roses, I guess it was inevitable I would call a heroine “Rose”. In my latest release Reinventing Rose,  the heroine’s gardening-crazy father names her Rose and her sister Daisy. (If he'd had a son, he would have called him Bud.)

Of course Rose tires of references asking does she see the world through rose-colored glasses, is she blooming, etcetera, etcetera. But she is perhaps guilty of viewing her parents’ marriage through rose-colored glasses and has to come to terms with some surprising truths in the book before she can get her complicated love life on track and get her happy-ever-after ending.

What about you? Do you like roses—or do you think they’re over-rated? Is another flower your favorite? Has anyone ever surprised you with flowers for a special occasion? I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment for a chance to win a free download of Reinventing Rose.

Don’t forget to include your email address if you want to be in the draw.

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.

Her new contemporary womens fiction e-book, Reinventing Rose, is available for $2.99 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and other e-book retailers.

Kandy’s romances include the Amazon bestseller The Castaway Bride, Something About Joe, and the award-winners Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com