Dural

The House of Herbs and Roses 

Yesterday we travelled by bus with the Avid Adventure Club to the Hills area to visit a herb and rose nursery in Dural.  It is a while since we have done a trip with this Club and it was nice to meet up with our friends once again.  We set off from Penrith at 9.00 am with the sky overcast and cloudy but at least it was not raining and the weather was pleasantly warm.  We picked up more friends in St. Mary's and Blacktown before heading in the direction of the "Hills". 

This is a lovely part of Sydney suburbia with many beautiful homes and gardens and it was nice to re-acquaint ourselves again with this part of the world.  A lot of new building is taking place and, sadly some of the beautiful countryside is being developed with masses of dreary new build grey two story townhouses, all identical, in a rabbit warren maze of tiny streets in new housing developments.  However, Dural still retains that feeling of spaciousness with many large homes on acreages and beautiful landscaped gardens.  When we reached the Nursery, I remembered visiting this place, many years' ago when it was called Somerset Cottage Nursery run by John and Rosemary Hemphill and specialising in herbs, so that part is more or less the same.  It now has a more relaxed and welcoming feel with many seats in the courtyard, inviting people to sit down and soak up the atmosphere and admire the many potted plants, all for sale.  There is also a Tea House where you can purchase a tea or coffee as well as something to eat.   They also sell dried herbs and a range of gift items.

We enjoyed browsing in the little shop inside the Tea House and then had a delicious light lunch in the tearooms with our own pot of special tea.  I had Temple of Heaven tea (mostly green tea) and Ken had Strawberry Kisses, made from strawberries and a lovely light pink tea.  This was followed by decadent home made luscious cakes.

A pot of beautiful begonias, looking very attractive at the base of the steps into the gift shop and tearooms.

Our bus was laden up with our plant purchases on the way home and every available seat carried a plant or two.

Such a pretty lily lighting up a dark corner.  A purple Arum Lily "Amethyst" Calla Lily with its' beautiful trumpet shaped flower.

I saw this big Axe sitting in a timberyard on the journey home through the "Hills".  Lots of towns in rural Australia love to display a big item that is iconic to their locality.  I guess this timberyard felt it was making a worthy contribution to the Hills by displaying their big axe.





The House of Herbs and Roses is a pretty little nursery of blooming plants and fragrant herbs.  The high pointed roof of the "A framed" Tea House is a local landmark and is easily recognisable.  Inside the Tea House is a shop stocking a wide range of house and gift ware tucked into every nook and cranny, perfect for browsing and admiring.  After shopping it is nice to relax over a cup of tea in the tea rooms, decorated in a very chic style with feather embossed wallpaper adorning the walls.  There was a giant gilt framed mirror propped up against a wall near the table where we sat to have our lunch.  The menu contains a wide selection of over thirty different tea varieties, all served in a teapot complete with tea strainer and beautiful china tea cups.