This popular event, held in the Royal Exhibition Building and the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, is now in it’s 19th year. It’s a showcase of beautiful blooms and gorgeous garden ideas.
This was the first time that I had attended the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show and I was nicely impressed. I’ll admit that it felt more like a market for gardeners and landscapers, offering lots ideas and products on how to make your garden a more beautiful space.
Inspiration for your garden
As you enter via the Royal Exhibition Building, you are blown away by blooms galore! There are lots of exhibitions which put seasonal flowers on display. The dress exhibition was my favourite display. Check out the one that’s made purely from corn and corn products! The bed of flowers was also a stunning exhibit – full of tulips, roses and loads of other foliage.
Outside, the outdoor entertainment area displays showed us what a bit of imagination and a green thumb could do – along with some spare cash to throw into the building supplies! It’s given me some great inspiration as to how I’ll design my outdoor retreat.
My favourite products on offer were the sweet little and not so little birdhouses and rusty steel garden decor. My little one would love the mini caravan as a play house and my husband could see an origami elephant sitting in the back yard. The prices of these items were slightly cheaper than normal retail price, a special for the show attendees.
Why not keep the show permanently?
Having been to a garden show in Germany last year, it’s a little step down in the wow factor. The Germans go all out with there garden shows, planting whole flower beds and creating a lake especially for it! I especially liked that the created park was kept after the show for the people to enjoy – it creates infrastructure in smaller towns and improves the living quality. Imagine when we would do this in Melbourne … we would have now 19 stunning parks more! Why tear down all these stunning displays … create permanent parks in different locations around Melbourne!
Nonetheless, it’s a fun day out for the family. There’s lots of food on offer and plenty of shady places to enjoy a picnic. The little ones will be entertained by roaming insects such as the giant butterflies and a preying mantis. Our stay was quite short but we managed to cover most of the show.
There is still time to visit the show which ends on Sunday 30/04/2014!
Update 2015: The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show runs again from 25th March to 29th March 2015.
And here are the winners of the Design Competitions:
RMIT STUDENT FLORAL FASHION DESIGN COMPETITION
1st Place – Aviva Meisner
2nd Place – Debbie Yann
3rd Place – Anna Lindell
ACHIEVABLE GARDENS WINNERS
1st Place – Contemporary Austerranean – Santa Giulia Meets St Kilda, by Kingsley A. Barker, Holmesglen TAFE
2nd Place – Edible Space, by Scott Tappenden and Melissa Greenslade, Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (NMIT)
3rd Place – A Gardener’s Garden, by Emma Tenni and Thomas Pinney, NMIT
Lysaght Student Landscaper of the Year Award: Kingsley A. Barker, Holmesglen TAFE
INTERMEDIATE STUDENT COMPETITION
1st Place – Chevonne Nicholas, Marjorie Milner College
2nd Place – Alexandra Cox, Marjorie Milner College
3rd Place – Courtney Hirschausen, NMIT
Highly Commended – Michelle Paxton, Marjorie Milner College
ADVANCED STUDENT COMPETITION
1st Place – Susie Dimitra Portelli, Marjorie Milner College
2nd Place – Bianca Besanko, NMIT
3rd Place – Margaret McLennan, NMIT
Highly Commended – Georgia Saunders, Marjorie Milner College