If you are anything like me you will currently be wondering where 2014 went and why you are not in the slightest bit organised for Christmas. But hey, don’t worry about that for a minute, put your feet up with a nice cup of tea and let’s first have a quick look at the newest, most successful plants that have been jumping off the shelves this year. Continue reading
The most wonderful part of being a garden designer
Me, selecting plants at the wholesale nursery
There are some days as a garden designer when you can’t believe your luck at what a mind blowingly fun and satisfying job you do. There are other days that…..well…… Continue reading
Top 5 Christmas Gardening Books
I still have so many amazing gardens I want to show you that I have visited over the last few weeks, but I thought I’d just pause to recommend a few lovely books. Continue reading
The Happy Oakley Garden
A wonderfully happy mix of native and exotics at the Oakley Garden, Manaia
I would describe the Oakley Garden in Manaia as a happy garden. Bursting with colour, it is hard not to have a smile on your face when you are there. With at least a dozen hanging baskets, and plentiful Continue reading
Autumn in Subtropical England
The Exotic Garden at Great Dixter, England
It’s all a bit of a worry, but we Aussies have much to learn from the subtropical gardens of England. Yes, really, we do.
They can’t touch us on our ability to do subtropical temperatures, but Continue reading
The best garden designer in Australia?
Arriving at Cameron Paterson’s Toorak garden
When I arrived at Cameron Paterson’s Toorak garden I was expecting to see something that was nice enough. I had seen a few pleasant pictures online, but you know, they don’t always Continue reading
‘Woodcote’: Five gardens in one
Stoneware jar peeps out from the Helichrysum under the peach tree at Woodcote – the colour combinations are superb
Sandra McMahon is a woman after my own heart. A landscape designer from Melbourne, her love of plants shines through brightly as you stroll through her home garden. This is not a garden of expensive Continue reading
Melbourne Garden Design Fest: Comparisons with Sydney
Natives and succulents at the entrance to Cameron Paterson’s Toorak Garden at the Melbourne Garden Design Fest 2014
This weekend saw the sixth Garden Design Fest in Melbourne and I was lucky enough to be able to pop down for the day to see as many gardens as I could. Continue reading
Formality and Precision at Gravetye Garden
One of many avenues at Gravetye Garden, Hawera. Here the Buxus is interplanted with Teucrium for colour contrast
This next garden in the series of blogs about the Taranaki Garden Festival is very different to the previous two. Highly planned, highly manicured and equally loved by Continue reading
It’s Meant to Be at Puketarata Garden
Tree ferns set the local background to this exquisite rose and perennial border at Puketarata
Another strong favourite from the Taranaki Garden Festival was Puketarata. Created by its owners, Ken and Jennifer Horner, over 35 years, it has that wonderful, but usually elusive, Continue reading
Janna Schreier Garden Design 