Outings Across the Garden State & the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show

Enjoy a short tour, taking in some of the highlights of the ‘Garden State’. Stay four nights in Melbourne, taking day trips to the Diggers Club Gardens, Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, and the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens. This is an ideal itinerary for those who are new to garden-themed travel, as each day will be quite different, offering opportunities to learn more about all things botanical.

Itinerary

Day 1: Melbourne, Heronswood Garden and Cruden Farm

Depart Melbourne Marriott Hotel at 8.30am. Travel to the Mornington Peninsula to visit Heronswood Garden in Dromana, the home of the Diggers Club, and enjoy a tasting plate lunch. Have a behind-the-scenes visit to the heirloom vegetable trial and production gardens with the head gardeners to learn about growing your own vegetables from heirloom seeds. Afterwards visit Cruden Farm, home of the late Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. Explore the expansive gardens which Dame Elisabeth was so fond of.

Day 2: Macedon Ranges, Garden of St Erth and Paul Bangay’s Stonefields

Visit the Garden of St Erth, one of Australia’s most exciting cool-climate gardens and home to a collection of rare and unusual plants. Enjoy a gardening demonstration and tour by one of the Diggers Club gardeners before having some free time in Trentham. Afterwards enjoy a special garden tour of Stonefields, by one of the property’s gardeners. Stonefields is heavily influenced by the philosophy of Italian hill villas and gardens.

Day 3: Yarra Valley Gardens – Edible Forest, Alowyn and Antique Perennials

Travel to the Yarra Valley to visit the Edible Forest. With over 300 plants growing within a one-acre forest garden, everything is either edible or medicinal.  Then travel to Alowyn Gardens, a beautiful garden designed along strong symmetrical lines. Continue to Kinglake to visit Antique Perennials nursery and display garden, where you’ll see hard-to-find perennials, bulbs, grasses and alpines. During dinner tonight, enjoy a special Melbourne Flower Show lecture by regular judge Teena Crawford. 

Day 4: Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show

Enjoy a full day at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. Regarded as the largest and most successful horticultural event in the Southern Hemisphere, it is rated among the top five flower and garden shows in the world.

Day 5: Dandenong Ranges, Cloudehill Garden, Fortnums Lunch, Phillip Johnson Garden and Melbourne

Visit the acclaimed Cloudehill Garden, with its extensive herbaceous borders, roses and azalea walks. Enjoy a Farewell Lunch at the beautiful Fortnums Restaurant. Afterwards, visit the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden and admire the new Australian Garden, designed by Phillip Johnson—this is a replica of the award-winning garden Phillip exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2013. Return to Melbourne, where our tour concludes at the Marriott Hotel at 5.00pm.