The impact of more than a decade of drought is obvious everywhere as we drive past dry, dusty paddocks and empty dams. It’s a sight of desolation. So we were not prepared for the surprise awaiting us behind the dark green hedge of European privet that shields Lambley Nursery in rural Victoria.

An avenue of Prunus serrulata, (Japanese flowering cherries), and pale blue agapanthus in bloom line the driveway to the carpark. A cheerful David Glenn is waiting to greet us in front of the original herbaceous border, which is filled with catmint, bowers of flowering clematis and flowing masses of Miscanthus sinensis ‘Sarabande’, (feather grass).

It’s just after 6am and David tells us we must hurry to capture on film the early morning shafts of sunlight already penetrating the new ‘walled garden’. We enter via a narrow gravel pathway through the only opening in the two-metre-high, 60cm thick green hedge, and what confronts us is nothing less than gardening magic! Our eyes are met with waves of colour: rich blues, yellows, purples, pinks, greys, oranges and sparkling white.

As we walk the meandering gravel pathway the garden opens into a much larger space than it at first appears. Measuring 20m x 50m, it is packed with perennials in full flower, and has a Mediterranean feel courtesy of an irregular planting of olive trees in the central body of the garden.

The garden at Lambley is a joint effort between plantsman David Glenn and artist Criss Canning who moved into the bluestone farmhouse on the property 17 years ago. David orchestrates the planting and the weeding, the pruning and the mowing and Criss is the garden’s designer, the colour coordinator, the final arbiter and the artist. Gardening here in a climate where it gets up to 43C or more every summer, where the north wind sears across a thousand miles of dead grass before it blasts the garden, David says he sometimes wonders why ever he left gentle England. “I sometimes yearn for a cool English summer, but only when it hits 40C,” he says. “Gardening in this climate is a challenge at times but what gardening isn't a challenge!”

David is no ordinary gardener or nurseryman, but a true plantsman. The nursery is named after the village in Nottinghamshire where he was born and raised into gardening. “My dad was a jobbing gardener, one uncle was a superintendent of parks and gardens and another uncle owned a nursery where I worked when I was young,” he says. When David came to Australia at 21 he worked in nurseries in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, and also worked for a time as a gardener in Melbourne. All of these experiences have added to his expertise.

The garden has received no rain beyond an odd shower  in more than a decade. In that time plants were watered-in at planting, again a few weeks later, and then left to survive, bar a thrice-yearly hand-watering.

The key to the impressive result is plant selection. “I love it here in Central Victoria and I have a late-onset passion for plants and flowers that love it here as much as I do.”  Instead of manipulating the environment to suit the plants, David has very carefully selected the plants to suit the climate; the way of the future as global warming takes increasing hold of our climates. He has scoured the world for plants that suit his environment and that of his customers. The plants originate in Mexico, California, Arizona, South Africa, Australia, Central Asia, Turkey, the Canary Islands, and Southern Europe. They make an inspirational list for anyone battling similar extremes in climates in Canberra, parts of Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales.

David’s other key tip is on soil preparation. He cultivates deeply to around 15cm, with a rotary hoe. Home gardeners can get the same effect with their trusty garden fork. He then mulches with a layer of unscreened composted pine bark around each plant. This forestry waste product has a slightly acid pH, which the perennials love. He uses only a thin layer, 2.5cm, to prevent the perennial roots growing into the mulch, as can happen in summer.  A similar mulch product can be purchased as Amgrow’s Biogrow Soil Conditioner in most garden centres.

To buy

All of these plants, and many more, can be bought mail order from the Lambley site, www.lambley.com.au. If you’d like to visit David and Criss’ extraordinary garden, it is at  ‘Burnside’, Lesters Road, Ascot, Victoria 3364, and is open 9am – 5pm every day except through July.

 “I love it here in Central Victoria and I have a late-onset passion for plants and flowers that love it here as much as I do.”  

Criss Canning is one of Australia’s foremost painters of still life. Her meticulous and harmonious compositions impart a sense of serenity, while the colour palate is rich and sensuous.  Most of her paintings feature plants from the garden at Burnside and Sandra asked her about the link between the garden and her art.

How does your work intersect with the garden?

My work is totally integrated with what happens in our garden. I have that visual stimulus every day, surrounded as I am by flowers, textures, shapes and colours. Most of the flowers I paint, David has grown here at Burnside. His oriental poppies are such a favourite, they have become a signature of my work. David grows them especially for me and seeks out new varieties, and colours for me to work with.

How do you choose your subjects?

It usually starts with an ache inside me for a particular colour. Then I walk around the garden to see what's happening, what's flowering and if something fits my mood, that's what I choose. Each colour harmony evokes an emotional response in me, so I swing like a pendulum from subtle and subdued colour harmonies to strong and gutsy. It feels to me as though not only colour but different plant material evokes a change in my response. When working with Australian native plants, for instance, there is more of a sense of stillness for me. Where the flower is something like oriental poppies it seems all about movement, excitement and sensuality.

Where do you work?

My studio is here in the house at Burnside. It is a lovely space, and was originally the main sitting room of the house when it was built in 1856. It has a large bay window, south-facing, which provides me with beautiful light. The room has a sense of intimacy, which suits my painting.

How important is the garden for inspiration?

My work has grown and developed more beautifully knowing David. Now I have a greater understanding of the flowers I paint. I look more closely and notice much more of the detail of the markings. It has added a layer to my creative side. We constantly discuss the garden: additions or changes we want to implement. David in turn is the person I trust most to give an opinion of my paintings when they are in progress, when total honesty is paramount.