Open Gardens SA is delighted to present the November program of open gardens for 2022. The South Australian organisation is a not-for-profit opening privately owned gardens to the public.
Treat yourself to a visit to a stunning open garden this November – the last opportunity for 2022 as the program takes a break until the new year in 2023.
Open Gardens SA opens private gardens to the public in a diverse range of styles, sizes, and locations, so prepared to be inspired and delighted!
All gardens open from 10.00am until 4.30pm on the dates listed. General entry to each garden is $10, and $8 for Open Gardens SA Members and for those with a Commonwealth Government Pensioner Concession Card or Health Care Card. Under 18s receive free entry.
Gardens will open under COVID guidelines as may exist at the time of opening. Visitors are encouraged to bring cash as EFTPOS facilities are not always available.
OPEN GARDENS IN NOVEMBER 2022
Saturday 5 – Sunday 6 November
Drouin: 12 Mossop Court, Littlehampton
An avenue of mature trees leads into Drouin, revealing five acres of stunning, flower-filled, colourful and extensively planted gardens. In all there are more than 900 roses so we can promise you a rose garden!
There is a white garden with box hedges and white roses, also arches covered with more roses forming an allée leading to a well-placed seat, spacious areas of lawn, a pond, a bog garden, an orchard and the vegetable garden.
A beautiful walled English-style ‘picking garden’ is planted with pretty old-fashioned plants including delphiniums, foxgloves, Queen Anne’s lace, larkspurs, alstroemeria and hollyhocks.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon teas, plants, jams and jellies made from Drouin produce, raffle and other stalls. Owner will do a walk and talk at 11am and 2pm Saturday and Sunday. Visitors are welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy on the grounds.
Size: 5 acres, 2ha.
Please note: This property has an unfenced pond and three fountains, and there are gravel paths and areas of lawn. It would be appreciated if visitors refrain from smoking in the garden.
Charity: Motor Neurone Disease
Gladys’s Garden: 36 Avenue Road, Highgate
Retaining a tall majestic date palm, a gnarled pomegranate and an old but productive persimmon tree were the brief when garden designer Virginia Kennett was asked to revamp what had been Gladys’ Garden.
The old stone villa built by earlier generations of Gladys’ family was being renovated and needed a garden that complemented the house as well as being family friendly and water efficient.
In all, there are around 80 trees, some providing shade, others producing fruit or blurring the boundaries and affording privacy. Ornamental pears edging the driveway are underplanted with regimented lines of box hedges interspersed with 44 perfectly pruned domes of silver teucrium.
Hedges, clipped plants and those with a strong structural presence play a big part providing definition and a restrained elegance in this very stylish garden. A beautifully designed and immaculately maintained leafy green garden.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon tea.
Size: 0.5 acres; 0.2ha.
Please note: This garden is not suitable for prams or wheelchairs. There is also a fountain, pond, and bees.
Charity: Operation Flinders.
[RESCHEDULED] Gasworks Cottages: 12-14 South Terrace, Strathalbyn
Once the smallest operation of its type in the world, from 1869 until electricity arrived in 1918, the Gasworks supplied gas to local Strathalbyn businesses and to light the town’s street lamps.
The cluster of historic buildings included the gas production area, manager’s cottage and stables, all now listed on the State Heritage Register.
The two-acre property borders the Angas River, and the rambling old country garden stretches out along the riverbank. From the mellow old buildings and the entrance courtyard, stone retaining walls create long gravelled terraces and here the layout of the garden is almost formal.
The garden is a mix of exotic shrubs, cottage garden plants, bulbs, succulents and also Australian natives planted to provide food and habitat for the many birds that the river attracts. In spring the crabapple, wisteria, clivia and spring bulbs including masses of bluebells will be in flower.
Extra activities: Entry to garden includes free entry to Gilbert’s Motor Museum (50m away).
Size: 2 acres, 0.8 hectares
Please note: This garden is not suitable for prams and wheelchairs; also the River Angas is nearby and is unfenced.
Charity: Gilbert's Motor Museum.
Saturday 12 – Sunday 13 November
The Knoll 6: The Knoll Crescent, Coromandel Valley
Hidden behind a high hedge and overlooking three quarters of an acre of garden is The Knoll, an old stone house originally built by the present owner’s great grandparents in 1896.
Over the past 35 years, descendent John and his wife Alison have breathed new life into the property, redesigning the garden and creating a tranquil green space, well planted and beautifully maintained.
There are warm open areas where blue convolvulus cascades down over stone retaining walls and roses, lavender, agapanthus, iris, salvias, succulents and pots of geraniums provide plenty of colour.
Well-pruned hedges, both small and tall, and clipped domes of foliage are dotted throughout, adding form to the profusely planted flower beds. In these sunny areas the plants, the hedges along with terracotta pots and the use of gravel for paths give a cottagey, Mediterranean feel to the garden. A charming, much-loved garden brimming with good ideas.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon teas, provided by Country Women's Association Happy Valley branch; succulent plant sales, and picture frames for succulent pictures.
Size: 0.75 acres; 0.3ha.
Please note: This garden is not suitable for wheelchairs; it has steep slopes, steps and gravel paths; it also has a small pond.
Charity: Beyond Blue.
The Glen: 35 Wilson Lane, Glencoe (near Mount Gambier)
Beautiful wrought iron gates in a high stone wall mark the entrance to The Glen, a 14-acre property, consisting of six acres of garden, a 4-acre organic orchard with loquats, cumquats, feijoas and crab-apples, a eucalypt wood lot, and sheep paddocks.
The original stone house built in 1910 was semi derelict and surrounded by compacted driveways, fenced yards and 20-year-old trees that had never been pruned.
After purchasing the property in 2010, the owners spent the first few years renovating the house and cutting through the vegetation in order to start creating a garden.
Approximately 200 roses, around 100 bearded irises, perennials and collections of lilacs and wisterias create a spectacular spring display, their flowers adding a delightful fragrance to the garden. The trickling water of a lion head fountain adds gentle sound and for winter warmth there is a substantial limestone fire pit. A big old garden given a lovely new lease of life!
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon tea.
Size: 6 acres; 2.4ha.
Charity: National Trust Glencoe Woolshed Branch.
Roy and Fiona’s Mylor Country Garden: 100 Aldgate Valley Road, Mylor
The entrance to Roy and Fiona’s Mylor Country Garden is lovely – the setting is idyllic and from the long gravel driveway overhung with mature leafy trees, there are scenic views of the rocky Aldgate Creek as it flows through the property.
The 1860s stone cottage perched on the side of the hill is surrounded by a pretty country garden filled with old fashioned favourites.
In recent years the garden has been renovated with thought given to retaining the cottage garden ambiance while adding choice plants that enhance the established planting. Paths wind through beds of camellias, roses, iris, foxgloves, acanthus and aquilegias adding touches of colour to the green of the many trees in the garden.
A Pierre de Ronsard rose climbs up the mellow stone wall of an old outbuilding, its gable-end the ideal spot for an espaliered quince.
Extra activities: Stirling Country Women's Association will offer teas. Tupelo Grove will have plants for sale; Guide dogs will have a display.
Size: 1.3 acres, 0.5ha.
Please note: This garden is not suitable for wheelchairs; it has a fenced pool and a creek.
Charity: Guide Dogs and CWA.
Saturday 19 – Sunday 20 November
Fenchurch: 22 Fenchurch Street, Aldgate
Georgina Hardy is a truly gifted gardener having created seven gardens in the past 35 years. Undeterred by the challenges of climate extremes, steep slopes, poor soils and limited time due to the demands of house renovations, children, grandchildren, pet Labradors and chickens, she creates delightful gardens wherever she lives.
Above the house, the slopes are mass planted with flowering shrubs: echiums, camellias, roses and groundcovers. The verandas of the sandstone villa are draped with climbing Pierre de Ronsard roses and clematis.
On the northern side, the outdoor dining terrace overlooks a series of tiered garden beds overflowing with roses and old-fashioned cranesbills, liliums, dahlias, daisies, salvias, gaura and verbena.
A curved set of steps leads down to a formal lawn terrace, the swimming pool and a new pergola which shades another alfresco eating area.
The garden studio and potting shed can only be described as to-die-for and will be the envy of every visitor! Craftsman built stone walls retain the sloping land and hidden behind a wall of Virginia creeper and a red Pierre de Ronsard rose is a bespoke and stylish chicken run.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon tea provided by the Country Women's Association. Georgina's husband Andrew and son Robert will run a sausage sizzle to raise money to plant trees for the red and white tailed black cockatoos on Robert and Hannah's farm at Dawsley.
Size: 1 acre; 0.4ha.
Please note: This garden is not suitable for prams or wheelchairs; it has steep slopes, steps, and a swimming pool.
Wellswood Cottage: 19 Devonshire Road, Aldgate
Wellswood Cottage is a remarkable garden – the design, the features, the plant selection, the attention to detail, the workmanship and the maintenance are outstanding!
Belonging to multi award-winning master landscaper Jamie McIlwain and his wife Sally, Jamie has used Wellswood to superbly showcase his craft.
The pretty stone cottage sits high on the block, perfectly framed with flower-filled garden beds and strategically placed trees. The sloping block was an opportunity for Jamie to add landscape features; some like the rock-filled gabion retaining walls and the wide stone steps that lead to the house are functional and others like the oversize urn and the ornate mirror on the wall of the house are purely decorative.
A love of plants and many years professional experience show in the thriving shrubs and choice perennials – plants are tried and any that are not top performers are replaced. Tightly clipped hedges and clusters of buxus and teucrium balls add definition to the profusion of flowers and foliage.
Extra activities: Walk and talk at 11am and 2pm both days;plants for sale from Tupelo Grove.
Size: 0.5 acre.
Please note: This garden is not suitable for prams and wheelchairs. Please be aware there is a beehive.
Charity: Flinders Medical Centre Neo-Natal Unit.
Woakwine: 509 Beachport Penola Road, Magarey (South East)
Woakwine is a magnificent old garden lovingly created since the 1890s by four generations of the McCourt family. The name is Aboriginal and means elbow, referring to the shape of the large watercourse near the homestead.
The five-acre garden is varied, thoughtfully planned and beautifully maintained. The expansive lawns and many treasured tall trees create a restful park-like feel with English and Japanese style gardens providing a strong presence within the setting. There are formal, predominantly green areas, a contrast to others that are pretty, flowery and colourful.
Clusters of cloud clipped Buxus balls add a touch of fun, a number of tall hedges divide and define different spaces and small hedges enclose and add a formal touch to a large circular rose garden with a fountain as its centrepiece.
There are beautiful and fragrant roses everywhere – climbers entwining tall metal obelisks, shrub roses, David Austins, Delbards, hybrid teas and heritage varieties, some planted by previous custodians of the garden.
Woakwine is an elegant and much-loved garden – a sanctuary that provides joy, a place to play, and food for a family!
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon teas will be available; plant sales.
Size: 5 acres.
Please note: Please bring cash as EFTPOS facilities are not always available.
Charity: RFDS.
Spindrift: 3 Northwest Terrace, Beachport (South East)
Spindrift in Beachport is a creative and quirky seaside garden that harmonises beautifully with the surrounding coastal landscape. Just three years old and named for the strong south winds and salt-laden spray that often buffet the area, the garden has been established using robust plants that grow well and look at home in the seaside setting. Adding to the character and beachy feel are many interesting items found washed up on the beach, carted home and cleverly re-used to become fun and fitting garden art!
The sandy soil, sun and harsh winds are challenging but the selection of climate-compatible species has meant plants have survived and are happily thriving in the testing conditions.
Many, like the cluster of clipped coastal rosemary and woolly bush domes that make a bold statement by the entrance to the house, have textural foliage in the lovely muted green or subtle silvery tones so often found in coastal vegetation.
Extra activities: Artwork, plants, driftwood hangers.
Size: “Town block”.
Saturday 26 – Sunday 27 November
The Glades: 5 Linwood Ave, Aldgate
The Wilkinsons have established and improved The Glades over more than 30 years. David has built steps including the impressive brick staircase leading up to the house and the many metres of walling that create terraces and flat functional spaces on the gently sloping one acre block.
In spring, dogwoods, delicate pink kolkwitzia and deutzia, hydrangeas, aquilegias, foxgloves, alstroemeria, cream clivia and the graceful angel’s fishing wands Dierama will add pops of flower colour to the variety of green foliage.
A lovely focal point is the rocky waterfall that trickles water from a winter creek into a tranquil pond below. Greenery including a variety of ferns and grasses fill the crevices amongst the large boulders that edge the pond and, looking charming and poised in her surroundings is a tiny bronze statue of a dancer by local Mylor sculptor, David Wilding.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon teas; plant sales.
Size: 1 acre; 0.4 hectares.
Kinclaven: 56 Waverley Ridge Road, Crafers West
Kinclaven is an historic two-acre garden surrounding a gracious old home dating from the 1880s. The sloping site has been terraced and the garden is a blend of different styles varying from Italianate to English, and Mediterranean to sub-tropical.
The entrance court is spectacular – a fountain in an elegant, oval-shaped pond planted with water lilies and aquatic plants and edged with clipped greenery, dramatically shoots a single spire of water high into the air.
Magnificent mature trees, some as old as the house, create shelter and microclimates ideal for the eclectic collection of plants that have originated from all over the world. Camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas and cold-climate plants happily mix with lush subtropical species and contrast well with the strappy or sculptural shapes of Mediterranean plants and succulents.
A rose garden has both heritage and modern varieties. There are lawn terraces, a shady arbour, pretty colour-themed perennial borders, an oriental garden, a camellia walk, plenty of pots, ponds, classical statuary, and a conservatory crammed with palms and jungle-like plants.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon teas as well as light lunches will be offered.
Size: 2 acres, 0.8ha.
Please note: There are pools and an unfenced swimming pool on the property, as well as steep slopes, steps and uneven pathways. It is not suitable for prams or wheelchairs.
Charity: CFS.
[RESCHEDULED] Clair de Lune: 217 Skillogalee Creek Road, Watervale
Clair de Lune sits high on a hill with sweeping views over the garden to paddocks with grazing sheep, beautiful bushland and the rolling Skillogalee Hills in the background.
The entrance to the garden and the bold, sustainable house is welcoming and colourful with rich red ground cover roses and lavender lining the beds along the drive.
The planting in front of the house combines both native and exotic plants – gravel paths lead through beds mass planted with silvery cushion bush (Leucophyta brownii), a contrast to the lovely lime coloured weeping foliage of Acacia cognata.
Strappy grasses mingle with the solid shapes of succulents and in the shade of the house, a long line of camellias thrive. A remembrance garden is hedged with rosemary and filled with gifted plants and cuttings from friends’ gardens and there is an orchard and productive area with raised concrete beds crammed with organically grown veggies. A fence surrounding the entire garden successfully deters kangaroos and plant-eating animals!
Extra activities: Vegan food van with dumplings and other Chinese-style food, along with non-vegan options; produce, quince paste, preserves, plants and craft for sale.
Size: 3 acres, 1.3ha.
Please note: This garden will open jointly with The Skilly House Garden: $15 for both. It is not suitable for wheelchairs, and there is a dam on the property. Parking in the paddock 250m from garden; people with mobility issues can be driven to garden entrance. Skillogalee Creek Road, a no through road, is a narrow and winding dirt road. Please drive slowly and carefully to and from both gardens. Parking at both gardens will be in adjacent paddocks.
Directions: From Leasingham turn into Wakefield Road and follow for approx. 5.3km, then turn right into Skillogalee Creek Road and follow for 2.1km. Clair de Lune is on the left.
[RESCHEDULED] Skilly House Garden: 294 Skillogalee Creek Road, Watervale
The road to the Skilly House Garden follows the Skillogalee Creek through the picturesque and peaceful landscape of the Clare Valley. However, with the natural beauty of the site comes extras – kangaroos, rabbits and deer, all with similar taste in plants as the owners!
Overnight, cossetted plants become a living feast for these regular foraging visits, but owners Jo and Mark have discovered by trial and error and plenty of persistence that there is a limited range of species that are not damaged.
Cypress, diosma, nandina, hibiscus, lomandra and other often fragrant or fuzzy foliage is usually untouched but to overcome the challenge large areas have been lawned, which with a number of mature deciduous trees and the indigenous red gums, creates a park-like look.
A high fence largely encloses a well-stocked vegetable garden and keeps out hungry intruders, there are fruit trees and a series of compost bins have been cleverly constructed using recycled wooden pallets. A restful garden in a beautiful rural setting.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon teas, and soup will be available; live music.
Size: 1.5 acre garden in 15 acre property.
Please note: This garden will open jointly with Clair de Lune: $15 for both. There is no beehive, but there is lots of bee activity in the vicinity. It is not suitable for wheelchairs, and there is a dam on the property. Parking in the paddock 250m from garden; people with mobility issues can be driven to garden entrance. Skillogalee Creek Road, a no through road, is a narrow and winding dirt road. Please drive slowly and carefully to and from both gardens. Parking at both gardens will be in adjacent paddocks.
Charity: Clare Valley Riesling Trail.
Directions: From Leasingham turn into Wakefield Road and follow for approx. 5.3km, then turn right into Skillogalee Creek Road and follow for 2.9km. Skilly House Garden is on the right (at the end of a no through road).
Click here to visit the website for more information about open gardens. Please visit the website regularly for updates to the program.
Open Gardens SA - Promoting the enjoyment, knowledge and benefits of gardens and gardening.
Website: http://opengardensa.org.au
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OPEN GARDENS IN OCTOBER 2022
Saturday 1 – Monday 03 October (October Long Weekend)
Avondale: 146 Avondale Road, Rhynie (near Clare) – 2nd Opening
Avondale is an informal and relaxed country garden where each spring the blooms of thousands upon thousands of bulbs create a spectacular spring display.
Opening for a second time this season, the early bulbs have finished, and now the later flowering varieties make a different but equally lovely show of colour.
Like a living tapestry the merging drifts of deep red, pink, orange and white sparaxis contrast with the softer more muted tones of hundreds of perfumed cream, gold, and purple freesias.
Several pink azaleas and an old Rugosa rose are underplanted with masses of bluebells that have colonised, and now appear as a sea of beautiful blue.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon tea; bulbs can be ordered, with proceeds to charity.
Size: 2 acres, 0.8ha.
Please note: There are ponds and an unfenced dam some distance from the house.
Charity: Leprosy Mission and World Vision Famine Relief.
Saturday 1 – Sunday 2 October (Gardens NOT open on the public holiday Monday)
Anna’s Garden: 46 Gladys Street, Clarence Gardens
A vibrant suburban garden overflowing onto the verge with succulents, agapanthus and iris planted under the beautiful jacaranda street trees.
Inside the front fence the lawn has gone and been replaced with a colourful assortment of roses, salvias, cottage plants and some fruit trees.
Behind the house, a series of paths divides garden beds crammed with a bright mixture of ornamental plants – poppies, love-in-the-mist, alstroemeria, daylilies and annuals intermingle with vegetables, herbs and fruit trees.
Extra activities: Artist and photography exhibition.
Size: 580 sqm.
Charity: Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in support of Ukraine.
Rosenthal Gully: 2 Rosenthal Road, Bridgewater
The informal cottage garden has been lovingly developed over four decades with terraces, steps and retaining walls built to allow access to every corner of the garden, and a half basketball court provides a safe play space for the grandchildren.
The beds are crammed full of colourful flowering shrubs, perennials, groundcovers and bulbs to ensure a continuous floral display.
In early spring the front garden features a beautiful Magnolia soulangeana, camellias and azaleas which shelter a vibrant mass of iris, bluebells, anemones, ajuga and forget-me-nots in every shade of blue and purple.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon tea; plant sales; display of textiles and embroideries.
Size: 1500sqm.
Please note: This garden is not suitable for prams or wheelchairs.
Charity: CF Society; MS Society; Women's and Children's Hospital Fund.
Saturday 8 – Sunday 9 October
TickleTank: 24 Hill Street, Mt Barker
TickleTank has delighted and inspired thousands of visitors over the years. Once the storage tank for the water supply to the surrounding town, the owner bought the property in 1998, and with great vision added several smaller tanks transforming them into a quirky and comfortable home.
Over time she has decorated both inside and outside with intricate mosaics and creative artwork made mostly from recycled objects. The bright colourful garden is wrapped closely around the tanks and although tiny, is crammed with clever ideas, surprises and whimsy.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon teas; raffle; plants, and garden art including painted pots and leadlight for sale.
Size: 450sqm.
Please note: This garden is not suitable for prams and wheelchairs. The garden has a small pond as well as steep slopes, steps and uneven paths. Please bring cash as EFTPOS facilities are not always available.
Charity: Purple House Dialysis Unit, Alice Springs.
Clair de Lune: 217 Skillogalee Creek Road, Watervale
Clair de Lune sits high on a hill with sweeping views over the garden to paddocks with grazing sheep, beautiful bushland and the rolling Skillogalee Hills in the background.
The entrance to the garden and the bold, sustainable house is welcoming and colourful with rich red ground cover roses and lavender lining the beds along the drive.
The planting in front of the house combines both native and exotic plants – gravel paths lead through beds mass planted with silvery cushion bush (Leucophyta brownii), a contrast to the lovely lime coloured weeping foliage of Acacia cognata.
Extra activities: Food van, produce, quince paste and other preserves will be available.
Size: 3 acres.
Please note: Please bring cash as EFTPOS facilities are not always available. This garden will open jointly with The Skilly House Garden: $15 for both gardens (no concessions).
Parking is in a paddock – please note a 250m walk up a slope to the garden. People with mobility issues can be dropped at entrance to garden. There is a dam some distance from house.
Directions: From Leasingham, turn into Wakefield Road and follow for approximately 5.3km, then turn right into Skillogalee Creek Road and follow for 2.1km. Clair de Lune is on the left.
Skilly House Garden: 294 Skillogalee Creek Road, Watervale
The road to the Skilly House Garden follows the Skillogalee Creek through the picturesque and peaceful landscape of the Clare Valley.
The Skilly House sits in an idyllic setting dotted with majestic big old red gums. The garden slopes and some areas have been terraced with gabions and retaining walls built with stone collected on the property.
A slate and gravel path leads to the highest part of the garden and to one of the many seats placed to take in the tranquillity and views of the property.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon teas, and soup will be available. Live music.
Size: 1.5 acre garden in 15 acre property.
Please note: Please bring cash as EFTPOS facilities are not always available. This garden will open jointly with Clair de Lune: $15 for both gardens (no concessions).
Although there is no beehive, there is lots of bee activity in the vicinity.
Charity: Clare Valley Riesling Trail.
Directions: From Leasingham, turn into Wakefield Road and follow for approximately 5.3km, then turn right into Skillogalee Creek Road and follow for 2.9km. Skilly House Garden is on the right (at the end of a no through road).
Saturday 15 – Sunday 16 October
Martindale: 1059 Paris Creek Road, Strathalbyn
Martindale is a peaceful country garden nestled into a hillside with superb views over the surrounding countryside.
The owners have thoughtfully planted the garden to create a haven for themselves and a welcoming home to a variety of birds, lizards and the odd kangaroo.
Australian native plants provide food and shelter, while birdbaths and shallow bowls are continuously topped up as a dependable water source. Large rocks found on the property retain the sloping land and double as sunning spots for geckos and a number of other breeds of lizard. Twenty-five different birds including blue wrens, mistletoe birds, pardalotes and a very rare Gouldian finch have been sighted in the garden.
Extra activities: Tea and coffee; Really Useful Pots will sell ceramic birds; Birds SA will talk on attracting birds and wildlife to gardens at 2pm each day.
Size: 0.75 acres, 0.3 hectares.
Please note: Please bring cash as EFTPOS facilities are not always available.
Nina’s Garden: 6B Old Bull Creek Road, Strathalbyn
Behind a high fence on the outskirts of Strathalbyn is Nina’s Garden; small and brimming with flowers, it is like a jewel box filled with bright, colourful botanical gems!
The garden is young but has been thoughtfully planned and planted to make the most of the irregular shape of the block and the poor alkaline soils. High fences are camouflaged with hedges that convey a feeling of seclusion and also blur the boundaries – a design trick that makes the garden appear larger than it is.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon tea will be available.
Size: 934sqm.
Please note: Please bring cash as EFTPOS facilities are not always available.
Charity: Open Gate Foundation.
Sunday 16 October (SUNDAY ONLY)
The Dominican Peace and Sophia Gardens: Little Street, Cumberland Park
Hidden away behind the high brick wall that encloses Cabra College is a surprise – overlooked by heritage stone buildings and a magnificent old Moreton Bay fig tree is a hectare of informal, tranquil gardens.
The Peace Gardens were first established in 1987 as a memorial garden, a quiet yet stimulating space to connect with nature and enjoy the garden. The Sophia Garden shares the site and surrounds the Sophia Centre.
Mature trees create a sheltered feel and beneath their shady canopies, meandering paths connect several themed gardens and areas with varied planting styles. The paths wind through colourful beds of cheerful spring flowering plants, a contrast to the restrained and restful mood of the wooded area where mature eucalypts and peppercorn trees have an understory of Australian natives. Seats encourage visitors to take time to enjoy the serenity of the gardens.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon tea; roaming garden guides; plant and craft sales; arborist David Mably will talk at 11am about how to care for trees, and how he restored a Moreton Bay fig tree after it was devastated by a mini tornado.
Size: 4.9 acres; 2ha.
Please note: About half of the garden is accessible to prams and wheelchairs. Parking in school grounds. Enter from Morris Street, Little Street and Eaton Street.
Charity: Sophia Centre.
Friday 21 – Saturday 22 October (Friday and Saturday – NOT open Sunday)
Garden on the Bay:160 Proper Bay Road, Port Lincoln
From its elevated seaside location, The Garden on the Bay has lovely views over Proper Bay and beyond.
A rich mix of climate compatible, wow-factor plants have been combined to great effect creating a spectacle of flower and foliage colours and textures.
For thirty years, the owners, Wendy and Jim have worked at improving the shallow sandy soils and have planted trees to buffer the strong coastal winds. With trial and error, the garden has evolved and is now filled with the vivid tones and striking sculptural shapes of succulents, cacti, agaves, aloes, pigface, yucca, furcraea, bromeliads with flowering plants like echium, osteospermum, geraniums and statice adding more bright splashes of colour.
Extra activities: Plant sales. Morning and afternoon teas.
Size: 1 acre.
Please note: There is a small pool / tank on the property. Please bring cash as EFTPOS facilities are not always available.
Charity: Part proceeds to the RFDS.
Saturday 22 – Sunday 23 October
Seaview: 32 Waverley Ridge Road, Crafers
Seaview, appropriately named for its sweeping views over the gulf, is an expansive, beautifully planted, and lovingly maintained six-acre garden.
Century old European trees shelter the gardens surrounding the gracious double story 1880s stone house. Revelling in the shade created by the trees are camellias and flowering shrubs, bulbs and perennials in abundance.
The planting is diverse and varied depending on the micro climate and aspect of a particular area – sunny spots are colourful with roses, iris, lavender, rosemary, salvia, teucrium, ceanothus and other sun-loving perennials and there is a newly planted woodland garden.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon teas will be offered, and there will be plant sales.
Size: 6 acres, 2.5ha.
Please note: This garden has steep slopes, boggy ground, uneven pathways, an unfenced dam and beehives. It is not suitable for wheelchairs. The garden is on a busy road, so please take care.
Charity: St Catherine's School.
Evesham: 27 Waverley Ridge Road, Crafers
Evesham is one of the grand old summer houses on Waverley Ridge Road at Crafers West. In the early 1930s a substantial Arts and Crafts home was built to replace what had been a modest 1870's dwelling.
The once lovely old garden with its beautiful trees was past its prime when the owners bought the property in 2009, but hard work revealed a wonderful network of winding paths, dry stone walling, and a long flight of steps which have since been restored and added to.
An aura of history resides here, reflected in mature trees including fir trees, a coppiced copper beech, a tulip tree, magnolias and a liquidambar. Camellias and rhododendrons grow in the understory with old azaleas hedged along the steps. But this is not a museum garden, and newer plantings have been skilfully blended with the old.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon tea; plant sales.
Size: ¾ acre; 0.3ha.
Please note: This garden is not suitable for prams and wheelchairs. There is also a water hazard.
St Marys Vineyard: 563 V&A Lane, Maaoupe, Penola
The delightful country garden at St Mary’s Vineyard with its hundreds of roses and dry-stone walls is a fitting location for the annual Limestone Coast Plant and Trade Fair. Hundreds of roses, bulbs, iris, hardy perennials, trees and shrubs surround the classic homestead and outbuildings.
Over the years, plants and bulbs suitable for the soil and climate have been incorporated into the garden design, adding colour and texture all year round. A passion for fresh seasonal produce has led to the creation of a substantial kitchen garden where a range of fruit and vegetables are grown using permaculture principles.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon tea will be offered; wine and food will be for sale (no BYO) and picnic tables and chairs will be provided; the Limestone Coast Plant and Trade Fair will be held, with plant stalls, cooking demonstrations, metal work, dry-stone walling, garden ornaments and children’s activities.
Size: 5 acres, 2ha.
Please note: There is a frog pond and a beehive. Please also note that if using GPS or similar, the address may show as 563 V&A Lane, Maaoupe or Wattle Range East.
Charity: Penola CFS.
Directions: 5kms north of Penola on the Riddoch Highway turn west onto V&A Lane and follow signs to St Mary’s Wines OR 12km west of Penola on Robe Road, follow signs to St Mary’s Wines along Rifle Range Road.
Saturday 29 – Sunday 30 October
Hilltop: 9-11 Old Carey Gully Road, Stirling
Whichever direction you look, there are beautiful views through the many mature trees to another picturesque scene or a well-placed piece of statuary. A long drive edged with ornamental maples and a thick green fringe of agapanthus lead to the 1930's house set in the middle of the extensive nine-acre, park-like garden.
Huge old trees screen the boundaries and provide shade and shelter to a diverse collection of flowering shrubs, perennials, ferns and bulbs. In spring the shrubberies feature brightly coloured rhododendrons, azaleas, lilacs, laburnums and several cultivars of Viburnum tomentosum with their spectacular white lacy blooms. Underplanting’s are of hellebores, euphorbia and late spring bulbs.
Size: 9 acres; 3.6 ha.
Please note: This garden has a large dam and two small ponds.
Charity: W&C Hospital or Queen Victoria Auxillary.
Ashgrove Iris Garden: 53-55 Albert Street, Gumeracha
Ashgrove Iris Garden is a relaxed, pretty one acre country style garden with meandering pathways, plenty of garden seating and many “old fashioned” and unusual plants adding to its diversity.
There are around 200 roses and mass planting of over 900 named varieties of bearded iris providing a lovely show of colour each spring. Focal points in the garden are used to great effect: a long lawn stretches to an elongated urn; a tiny ‘summer house’ nestles among the trees and shrubs; David Austin roses encircle a classic water feature. A concrete rainwater tank has been boldly painted with a colourful Art Nouveau inspired mural of the four seasons in the garden.
Extra activities: Display of blacksmith craftsmanship; and an artist-in-residence with artworks for sale.
Size: 1 acre, 0.4ha.
Please note: The garden has two large open ponds and some steps.
Directions: Close to the Gumeracha oval.
Alto Cinco: 5 High Street, Kersbrook
On a double block on the outskirts of Kersbrook with views over neighbouring farmland, Cathy and Chris have created what they describe as “a garden belonging to people who love gardening”!
The garden is crammed with a huge and eclectic variety of plants; natives, exotics, grasses and succulents mingle together in a beautiful mix of flower colours and foliage textures.
In parts the garden is cottagey but there are hedges that provide structure and definition – paths, some straight and edged with a hedge and others narrow and twisting, lead through the densely planted beds.
Cathy particularly loves iris and has some stunning varieties, also roses, wisteria, bulbs, daylilies and possibly the huge old camellias will still be blooming.
Extra activities: Really Useful pots will sell their ceramic birds.
Size: 1800 m2.
Please note: There is a small pond in the garden.
Fiddlestix: 58 Holly Rise, Coffin Bay
Fiddlestix is an amazing garden, full of surprises!
Situated on an exposed rocky limestone hill with harsh growing conditions, the resourceful owner has added quirky collectables, found objects and bright mosaics to create interest and a touch of fun to the garden.
From the metal gate in the eye-catching colourful ‘bottle wall’ it is immediately apparent that this is a unique garden!
Sizable structures made of recycled materials mingle with unusual containers overflowing with succulents. There is the sunken mosaic wine garden, the iron bed with its blanket of succulent stripes, the rusty car filled with flowers, the arbour made of bicycle wheels covered in vivid red flowering passionflower vine, the original outback dunny – once an essential part of the local store, the firepit area complete with a barbed wire chandelier and the fairy garden with activities for kids!
Extra activities: Tea, coffee and light lunches will be offered. There will also be plant sales. A kids’ craft tank will be filled with crafty bits and bobs to encourage children to create their own imaginative and quirky handiworks.
Size: 0.4 acre.
Please note: This garden has some uneven pathways and narrow paths and is suitable for prams but not wheelchairs.
Charity: Coffin Bay Progress Association.
Click here to visit the website for more information about open gardens. Please visit the website regularly for updates to the program.
Open Gardens SA - Promoting the enjoyment, knowledge and benefits of gardens and gardening.
Website: http://opengardensa.org.au
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/opengardensa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opengardensa
OPEN GARDENS IN SEPTEMBER 2022
Saturday 3 – Sunday 4 September (also opening a second time over the October long weekend)
Avondale first opening: 146 Avondale Road, Rhynie (near Clare)
Avondale is a relaxed, informal country garden where each spring, thousands upon thousands of beautiful bulbs in a myriad of different shades burst into flower adding a pop of living colour to the surrounding green hills. The bulbs were first planted decades ago by the mother of the current owner and have been encouraged to multiply and naturalise over the years.
The approach to the house is bordered with a sea of deep blue Roman hyacinths contrasting with the soft creams of tazettas, jonquils and vibrant yellow daffodils. Bluebells, grape hyacinths and triteleia in a palette of different blues blend with pastel perfumed freesias, snowflakes and colourful anemones, with delicate tulips, potted orchids and rockery plants adding yet more colour. Vivid carpets of tiny cyclamen in shades of white through to wine, carpet the ground beneath flowering shrubs and trees including several Manchurian pears and a pale pink prunus.
Rustic seats crafted from logs and slate are placed to enjoy views of the garden, the drifts of flowering bulbs on the hillside below and the rural landscape beyond. A joyous, cheerful garden in which to celebrate the arrival of spring.
Extra activities: Morning and afternoon tea will be offered; bulbs may be ordered for later delivery, with proceeds to charity.
Size: 2 acres, 0.8 ha.
Please note: There are ponds and an unfenced dam some distance from the house.
Charity: Leprosy Mission and World Vision Famine Relief.
Sunday 18 September
Al Ru Farm: 1016 One Tree Hill Road, One Tree Hill
Inspired by visits to gardens all over the world, Ruth Irving has used vision, her artistic eye and her talent as a plantswoman to transform 10 acres of Al Ru Farm’s grazing land into a charming, charismatic country garden.
The garden meanders from one area to another, each with its own distinct feel and colour palette. The expansive homestead lawn is sheltered by big old ash trees, a wisteria and rose arbour leads into the structured white wedding garden, there is a formal garden and a delightful wildly planted area where perfumed freesias and tiny white lawn daisies have been left to naturalise together with white Dutch iris and deciduous trees.
Visitors will also enjoy the sedum bordered lily pond area with its classically styled pergola and various outbuildings including a stylish conservatory, the undercover barn venue and the elegant garden pavilion accommodation.
In spring flowering crab apple trees add their pretty pink blossom to the picture. Deeper in the garden the woodland feels joyful with bluebells, aquilegia, campanula, hellebores, naturally seeded geraniums and the lovely green glossy leaves of flowering angelica. Sheets of hot pink silene contrasts dramatically with bright lime green euphorbia. Al Ru Farm is big, boldly planted and beautiful!
Extra activities: Meet Ruth for a walk and talk around the garden at 11am and 2pm. There will be stall holders selling plants, garden wares and other artisan goods. The One Tree Hill Uniting Church will supply delicious teas and lunches and the One Tree Hill CFS will again look after the gate and share the takings.
Size: 10 acres, 4 ha.
Please note: There is a large lake on the property. Opening SUNDAY only.
Charity: Country Fire Service; and Uniting Church Orphanage in Uganda.
Saturday 24 – Sunday 25 September
Dunedin: 16 Fairfield Drive, Strathalbyn
Dunedin in Strathalbyn is colourful, productive and meticulously maintained by an experienced and enthusiastic gardener! A dry rocky creek bed curves through the front lawn and beds of colourful roses, perennials, annuals, succulents, trimmed pencil pines and a pair of conifers clipped into cones. Spring flowering bulbs add more seasonal colour.
However, the back garden is where the owner’s passion for his patch really shows and he has made a garden that is partly ornamental, but mostly productive. There is a thriving kitchen garden where recycled materials have been creatively fashioned into trellises and supports for vegetables, vines and fruit trees. Vast amounts of animal manure and compost have been added to improve the original poor soil and it is now rich and fertile and able to support the intensive cultivation.
The garden is almost a backyard fruit and veg shop - crops include asparagus, leeks, onions, turnips, parsnips, tomatoes, broccoli, corn, cabbage and cauliflower. There are also numerous fruit trees, some pruned to maximise their yield and to keep them compact and others expertly espaliered.
A neat-as-a-pin garden that provides enjoyment and at the same time allows the owners to be almost self-sufficient and able to share healthy home grown produce with friends and family.
Size: 0.75 acres, 0.3 ha.
Please note: There is a pond in the garden.
Charity: Trees Please.
Saturday 24 – Sunday 25 September
Gasworks Cottages: 12-14 South Terrace, Strathalbyn
Once the smallest operations of its type in the world, from 1869 until electricity arrived in 1918, the Gasworks supplied gas to local Strathalbyn businesses and to light the town’s street lamps. The cluster of historic buildings including the gas production area, manager’s cottage and stables, are all now listed on the State Heritage Register.
The two-acre property borders the Angas River, and the rambling old country garden stretches out along the riverbank. From the mellow old buildings and the entrance courtyard, stone retaining walls create long gravelled terraces and here the layout of the garden is almost formal.
The garden is a mix of exotic shrubs, cottage garden plants, bulbs, succulents and also Australian natives planted to provide food and habitat for the many birds that the river attracts. Big old gums growing across the river and mature exotic trees in the garden are a lovely backdrop and create a sheltered feel to the area. In spring the crabapple, wisteria, clivia and spring bulbs including masses of bluebells will be in flower.
Extra activities: Entry to garden includes free entry to Gilbert’s Motor Museum (50 metres away).
Size: 2 acres, 0.8 ha.
Please note: This garden is not suitable for prams and wheelchairs; also the River Angas is nearby and is unfenced.
Charity: Gilbert's Motor Museum.
Click here to visit the website for more information about open gardens. Please visit the website regularly for updates to the program.
Open Gardens SA - Promoting the enjoyment, knowledge and benefits of gardens and gardening.
Website: http://opengardensa.org.au
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/opengardensa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opengardensa