On 14 March 2013 I had my first visit to Aspidistra Nursery near Stellenbosch. I was not feeling myself but I did not leave my camera at home either. I only took a few shots hear and there. To be honest I think if I took photo’s of everything that caught my eye I’ll still be clicking away….

Willie Schmidt get’s these statues from a man (sorry for the death of me I cannot remember his name) and then he sells it for him in his nursery. Each and every statue is unique and there are not two that looks the same. Willie also brought under our attention that if you look at the statue’s you will see the angels different expressions…

 

 

Willie uses anything he can get as a decoration in his garden and he encourages you to recycle your old pots, pans, tins, suitcases, bicycles, baths, shovels and the list goes on and on and on and on…….

When you walk through the nursery you will be astonished by the way the nursery is laid out. His garden is a feast for the eyes, different types of plants, some I can’t even remember ever seeing and some so old I thought they were extinct. Then of course the way that they are presented to you is absolutely breath taking.

There’s also a lovely tea garden and they serve the most divine carrot cake. I will definitely go and visit the tea garden again….

Willie also told us how to make compost for our own gardens. Willie  originally studied psychology and worked behind bars with the criminals.  After many years of practicing he decided to retire and put his theory  that the best way to get rid of stress is to work in your garden to the test. And I must agree I used to love working in my garden for hours on end. It’s the best therapy and free…. But in our busy lives one forget’s what used to work very well. No now I am going to start gardening again my first step is to move all my plants into pots and pans and what ever I can lie my hands on in and around the house… This way I can free my house from clutter, decorate my garden and also save water….  According to Willie you do not need hectares of ground to have a garden, you can have a lovely garden in a pot….

 

I just fell in love with the above water feature and I am thinking of incorporating something similar at the entrance to my house… 

 I plan to visit Aspidistra again within the next two weeks again. I want to take some more photo’s of this lovely nursery and ask Willie some questions on indoor plants. My house is not very plant friendly and I so love some greenery in my house…. It’s only my bedroom and sun-room that get’s direct sunlight the rest of the house do not really see sunlight…. Keep a eye out for some more posts and photo’s of this lovely nursery called Aspidistra….