Inspired

Meet Tahnee Carroll, Stylist and plant-lover

06 September 2018 | Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan

Tahnee Carroll has never seen a room that can’t be made more appealing with a plant or two, as she explains in this extract from a new book on indoor plants, ‘Leaf Supply’.

Meet the Lindesay gardeners

23 January 2017 | Robin Powell

Every Thursday morning a group of garden lovers gathers in the beautiful grounds of Lindesay in Darling Point and gets to work. Here Robin Powell talks to the group about their passionate connection to this historic house and garden

Meet Tiffany Bignold

21 May 2020 | Robin Powell

Meet Tiffany Bignold, Heritage rose lover and Parramatta Park gardener. The Rumsey Rose Garden in Parramatta Park is a quiet place in the city fragrant with the blooms of 203 heritage roses.

Meet Tom Coward: Head gardener at Gravetye Manor

14 February 2018 | Robin Powell

Gravetye Manor is the garden of the influential English gardener, William Robinson. Robin Powell spoke to its current head gardener Tom Coward about its historical accuracy and modern excitement.

Meet: Alex Elliott-Howery

17 December 2015 | Robin Powell

Meet Alex Elliott-Howery, pickler and community builder.To say that Alex Elliott-Howery and her husband James Grant have a café doesn’t begin to tell the story. Cornersmith is not just a café, but a pickling and preserving business and school, and a trading hub for the produce gardeners of Marrickville.

Meet: Bethany Linz

07 March 2016 | Robin Powell

Meet Bethany Linz. Wallpaper and textile designer. Bringing the garden inside develops a whole new meaning with Bethany Linz’ botanically inspired wallpapers.

Meet: Brendan Moar, show garden creator

11 February 2015 | Linda Ross

You really can't help but be a big fan of the work of landscape architect and television presenter Brendan Moar - he's adorable. Seeing one of his gardens come to life on his Lifestyle channel shows is a treat; seeing one live at the Singapore Garden Festival is even better.

Meet: Brigitte Eckardt, Rose Grower, Green E Roses

13 November 2019 | Linda Ross

Need some advice on roses? Meet a walking rose encyclopedia!

Meet: Caitlin Sawyer

16 September 2015 | Robin Powell

Meet Caitlin Sawyer, Young Horticulturist of the Year in 2015, and winner of the BBM Sir John Pagan Horticulture Travel Scholarship for 2014/15.

Meet: Jeremy Critchley, nurseryman

13 November 2019 | Robin Powell

Jeremy Critchley’s Green Gallery Nursery developed a focus on indoor plants once he moved into an apartment and wanted something different.

Meet: Matt Purbrick, village life enthusiast

22 December 2018 | Interview: Linda Ross Pictures: Shantanu Starick

The happiest healthiest people in the world are those who live in simple agricultural communities where life is shared. It’s a way of life that Matt Purbrick and his partner Lentil enjoy in regional Victoria and extoll through their business, Grown and Gathered.

Meet: Sally Newman

13 November 2019 | Robin Powell

Meet Sally Newman, Owner, Yandina Station

Meet: Saskia Havekes, florist

12 March 2015 | Linda Ross

Saskia Havekes is the owner of Grandiflora. Her recent book, Grandiflora Celebrations is a behind-the-scenes look at 60 themed events, from weddings to fashion shows.

Meet: Tony Lennon, botanical sculptor

19 February 2015 | Robin Powell

Tony Lennon shapes rock, tree fern or bone to create a home for an orchid, which wraps its roots into its host to form a living sculpture. We talked with him about his work.

Meet: Tracey Deep, floral sculptor

20 March 2015 | Robin Powell

Tracey Deep uses nature as an inspiration for her living sculptures. Here we chat to her about her work and life.

Merry Garth

18 November 2015 | Sandra Ross

The Mount Wilson garden of Libby and Keith Rainers is a treasure trove of miniature gems in an inspiring setting. Sandra Ross sets the scene in this beautiful Blue Mountain garden paradise

Mickey's garden

25 June 2015 | Mickey Robertson

Mickey Robertson gardens at Glenmore House near Camden. Sounds like a scene out of Pride and Prejudice? Well yes, you do feel as though you've traveled back in time where women wear linen and the air smells clean. Winter, she says, is crisp mornings thawing to glorious blue-sky days. Early morning reveal traces of frost on cabbage and kale leaves; and sometimes, just sometimes, the paddocks blanketed in white. Evenings also have a rhythm all their own as woodsmoke trails through the valley. Here she shares glimpses of days in her winter garden.

Mien Ruys

07 May 2015 | Sandra Ross

If you’ve ever used a railway sleeper in a garden design you owe a debt to Dutch designer Mien Ruys, the so-called Mother of Modernism. Sandra visited her inspirational garden and wandered through its history of 20th century garden design.

Monet’s Masterpiece, Giverny

29 March 2016 | Linda Ross

Claude Monet always said his garden was his greatest work. Giverny is both garden and art.

Nest of the Feather Serpent

20 May 2019 | Linda Ross

Linda finds a garden in Mexico that sparkles with surprise and joy.

Oakwood

09 July 2015 | Robin Powell

Wonderfully eccentric, personal, witty and beautiful. The garden of sculptors, Fulko Cooper and Maureen Craig is both drawing board and artwork; a house, garden, studio and gallery space that inspires. Welcome to Oakwood.

Old Wesleydale

01 March 2016 | Robin Powell

Deb and Scott Wilson make garden magic in Tasmania's stunning Meander Valley.

Philip Johnson's Garden, Olinda

17 April 2015 | Philip Johnson

Landscape designer Philip Johnson’s passion is to connect people with nature. In this extract from his new book Connected: the sustainable landscapes of Philip Johnson, he explains how that connection is deepened and refined at his home in Olinda, and creates a billabong to die for!

Plants I love: dwarf banksias

28 February 2019 | Kath Gadd

‘Banksia or grevillea’ I’m sometimes asked, in the native-plant lover’s version of ‘Batman or Superman’. For me, it’s banksia, every time.

Plants I Love: peony

26 August 2019 | Sandra Ross

Years ago, on one of our early Jacaranda Cruises, a woman presented me with a cardboard toilet roll. I was a bit surprised until I saw the round pink bud inside. It was a single long stem of the‘Sarah Bernhardt’ peony. Over the next two weeks I was captivated as the bud gradually opened to a multitude of pink petals and a boss of golden stamens. I’ve been mad for peonies ever since and have admired them in peak perfection in gardens in England, Canada, USA and France, as well as in cool climate gardens in Australia.

Plants I love: Star magnolia

21 May 2019 | Graham Ross

Magnolias can languish in their formative years, but perseverance will be rewarded. Here Graham discusses his favourite magnolia's story.

Possumwood

20 March 2015 | Myles Baldwin

In the misty hills of Robertson in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Myles Baldwin designed a modern rendition of a walled perennial garden, with a twist. He tells the story in his new book, ‘Rural Australian Gardens’.

Postcard from the garden world

22 August 2019 | Ross Tours

See what's happening in the world of Ross Garden Tours this spring

Postcards from the 2017 Tour season

01 February 2018 | Linda Ross, Michael McCoy, Sandra Ross & Robin Powell

Views, reports and travel tips from the world of Ross Tours. What a great year we had in 2017, traveling the gardens of the world. Here are some of our most memorable tours.

Powis Castle

20 February 2017 | Robin Powell

Powis Castle is a medieval fortress and grand country manor of striking red limestone that perches on top of a hill. Its crenelated battlements reach into the clouds and its mullioned windows overlook Italianate terraces planted up with fine herbaceous borders. Fromteh lake-like lawn at the bottom of the hill the castle appears to be resting on lumpy cushions. The are giant yews, planted as a hedge in the 1720s. The intervening centuries have allowed them to bulge and slouch and become their individual selves, rather than a single well-behaved entity. They’re called tumps, and look like giant green bean bags balanced on the weathered red brick wall. From their vantage point they have watched 400 years of history and garden-making play out in the grounds of Powis.

Relaxed style

20 May 2019 | Chris Pearson

Sydney-based designer Marcia Hosking gave a holiday vibe to this compact garden.

Rose Tribute: 'Governor Marie Bashir'

16 September 2015 | Linda Ross

The new rose, 'Governor Marie Bashir'. A fitting tribute to a great Australian, and Graham Ross was on-hand to capture the magic.

Roses at Red Cow Farm

21 May 2018 | Robin Powell

Seduced by the colour, forms and perfumes of roses, Ali Mentesh has already collected some 200 to adorn the garden rooms at Red Cow Farm. Can he choose a favourite?

Secret Garden

11 September 2018 | Matthew Cantwell

Secret Gardens is one of Sydney’s most successful garden businesses – designing, constructing and maintaining beautiful gardens across the city. In this extract from a new book featuring 19 of the company’s finest gardens, founder Matt Cantwell explains how a garden can balance privacy with views out - and into - the garden.

Secrets of Bougainvillea

13 November 2019 | Matthew Biggs

Jeanne Baret disguised herself as a boy to join her naturalist lover on Louis de Bougainville’s great expedition. A fine botanist in her own right, Jeanne is now thought to have collected the first specimens of bougainvillea in the jungles of Brazil.

Seed Capital

06 March 2015 | Robin Powell

Robin Powell joins two seed hunters on the trail of rare and endangered plants in the Penrose State Forest south of Sydney.

Sissinghurst

20 March 2015 | Linda Ross and Michael McCoy

One of the world’s most influential and visited gardens, Sissinghurst, is undergoing a change, as Vita Sackville-West’s grandson Adam Nicolson wrestles with the integrity of the garden and its surroundings. Linda Ross reports.

Small space: big ideas

24 November 2016 | Robin Powell

A small space shouldn't deprive anyone of a great garden. Robin Powell is looking at some impressive small spaces with new plants and containers, new colours and loads of other big ideas.

The new upside of gardening

21 August 2019 | Kate Neale and Michael Casey

The show gardens at Singapore's first-ever Horticulture Show earlier this year blurred the boundary between the natural and built environment and introduced us to a whole new place to garden - the ceiling!

Thinking gardens

21 August 2019 | Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, (c) Sydney Living Museums

Betty Maloney was a pioneer of bush gardening whose advice on finding serenity in the garden is as relevant now as it was half a century ago.

Two Gardeners The Cruden Farm Garden Diaries

14 June 2017 | Linda Ross, Lisa Clausen & Michael Morrison

Most mornings Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and her gardener Michael Morrison shared a breakfast of tea and toast and discussed the day’s plans for the garden. Michael filled in a garden diary, as requested by Dame Elisabeth early in their working relationship. The diaries have now been published as 'Cruden Farm Garden Diaries' by Penguin/Lantern, with explanatory text by journalist Lisa Clausen and contemporary photographs by Simon Griffiths. This brief extract shows how the diaries chart not just the garden, but also the attitude of its gardeners to each other.

Under the cherry blossom

01 September 2016 | Robin Powell

Japanese gardens are admired and imitated by garden lovers around the world. Here are just three reasons we love them.

What’s new this winter

21 May 2019 | Robin Powell

Even if she hadn’t been running Collectors’ Plant Fair, Linda Ross would have been there before the gates opened to be sure of securing a swag of treasure. Here’s part of her shopping list from this year.

Wychwood

30 April 2015 | Robin Powell

After a frenetic season of growth through summer and spring, autumn brings an easing into the relaxation of winter. Wychwood’s Peter Cooper tells Robin Powell why he loves the garden in winter.

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