ARTICLE 2 FOR IRISH GARDEN PLANT SOCIETY.
Maria and I arrived in Melbourne on October 12th after a fascinating flower adventure in WESTERN AUSTRALIA ( see July’s article). Western Australia is one of the most remote biospheres on the planet and its plants have largely remained in a kind of time warp . Eastern Australia with its two competing urban centres Sydney and Melbourne is much closer in feel to Europe than W.A. Our base was in the suburbs of CLIFTON HILL, a northern suburb close to the city centre, an area of early 20th century houses and gardens crisscrossed by motorways and railways. Within this once industrialised region parks and walking paths have been carved out often following the routes of rivers , such as the Merri , a tributary of the Yarrow , Melbourne’s’ main. River

From this very contained and urbanised vantage point we made our observations of the garden plants around us. The areas of observations were what people grow in their in suburban gardens, what was growing in the wild places adjacent to those gardens, what was being promoted in the public spaces such as new gardens in botanic gardens and who are the movers and shakers in the Australian gardening world. Beside these observations we managed to visit some famous private gardens.
1.Melbournes suburban gardens
The ordinary private gardens of Melbourne come straight out of European tradition . the picture of the formal chic garden in the picture is common in the wealthy suburbs of Toorak. The only native thing here is the bluestone rock of Melbourne. The box hedges , tumbling iceberg roses, privet balls, spiralling conifers are all part of the international formal garden palate. I have no criticism of this style . Here it is beautifully executed but it is not an Australian garden. It is a French garden.
Over a period of three weeks I saw no unique Australian suburban garden. They are there but largely to be found within the pages of Australian garden design magazines.

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Figure 1 Melbourne chic front garden.
While the suburban gardens of Melbourne cling to their European parents the surrounding wastelands amongst these suburbs are welcoming with open arms any plant that wishes to escape from the confines of the picket fence or railing. A cycle up the narrow gorge of the River Merri and one finds oneself in familiar company. This cycle could be like a trip down the Dodder in Rathgar or Terenure on a spring morning . Both rivers flow through an urban landscape, are somewhat polluted and are dominated by willow . The willows proliferate rapidly along the banks of both rivers but in Ireland they are loved “ Down by the Sally Gardens “ and all that Yeatsian romanticism. In Melbourne they are an intruder, a destroyer of native habitats. On weekends” barbies” are organized for the many volunteer groups that try to eliminate this weed. To my mind it is all a little late . It is good to save native habitats but where they are gone it is futile to try and reestablish them . Nature is far too powerful. The Merri creek has changed utterly from the time that it was the meeting place of the Aborigine people .Crisscrossed by
Figure 2 fennel and friends
roads and bridges the resultant concrete debris now cascades down its steeps embankments and nature in a sense of decorum has rushed to cover the littering offense . It is ironical that it is the alien species from Europe that are to the forefront in doing such a wonderful cover-up; vincas, vetch, the perennial pea ,ivies and fennel in great swathes sprout in massive bunches sufficient for thousands of fish restaurants. The native species is represented in a token way by the zamnia. These plants are there to stay and the native species will be pushed further and further into the bush where many Australians in their gardening minds think they truly belong. This is maybe an extreme view but one founded on conversations with many Australians.
It is in the garden centers and nurseries that the public show their gardening tastes . Many garden centres carry a small section of native plants but they would not be amongst the best sellers . I asked in one garden centre about this . The expert in the garden centre felt that native species were “too bushy” Also he felt that Australians were a little unsure about how to garden properly with them . They are plants that need to contained by cutting them back , but most people don’t and they become far too dominant in the garden, like setting a wild thing free amongst the better garden worthy plants. One could appreciate this when one experienced the spread of tea trees in the National Park in Wilson’s
Figure 3Pimelea ferrugenea.
promontory
Figure 4Teatrees prime material for bush fire.
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There are native nurseries in the Melbourne region . There were two last October but now there is only one. We visited the Kuranga NATIVE NURSEY just prior to its closing down . The nursery was choc a bloc with native species and here with a few photographs, and since this is a plant magazine, let me show a few of the botanical jewels that make up the Australian flora.
Figure 5Kurranga native nursery a verysmall selection of native plants calllistemon on the left amidst the blues of lechenaultia and the pale blues of the trigger plants ,three very popular plants in Australia.
The owner , a friendly talkative woman in her thirties , looked sadly out at the passing traffic and reflected that the Australia public was committed to consumerism and was not interested in buying and celebrating native species in their gardens even though they were much more suited to the soil and the environment . They preferred the high consumption of scarce water resources in maintaining the traditional garden. That was why she was forced to sell up and embrace the hippy dream in the outback.
Further out from Melbourne was another more commercial successful native plant nursery, complete with coffee shop and all the ethnic paraphernalia that goes with the local . It was well supported and had only native plants so there is seemingly a future for the native species as garden plants.
I’ll end with a brief comparison of two contrasting gardens . One is the Robinsonian garden of Nooroo ,high in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney . Even though it is hidden away amongst the eucalyptus forests it is garden that could be an Australian Fernhill or Mount Usher .The roads and Gardens are filled with exotics from all parts of the world , all possible because of the cool climate and the high rainfall. Here glades and pathways are ablaze with the garlands of wisteria, the cherry pinks, the delicate leaves of acers and the voluptuous blooms of rhododendrons and azaleas. The woodland floors are carpeted with bluebells, bugle and spring irises. For us it was like home an irish garden but reproduced in an Australian way. Then we were biased
Figure 6 NOOROO GARDENS " a shady place" . This woodland gazebo view was made into an Australian stamp.
biased.
Figure 7Kuranga
Figure 8 The commercially successful native plant nursery.
The second garden is the Karawarra Australian plant garden found in the MT. Dandenong Range north of Melbourne. It is a woodland garden . Soil is clay ,an exception in this largely ericaceous area. To contrast with the rather smoky impression of the shrubs much use is made of the white bark of eucalyptus, and the use of rocks and seats and sheds and cut logs to create focus and context.
Only disappointment was the lack of plant identification as the tags were not replaced when the shrubs had outgrown them.
Australian gardens have yet to achieve their own unique identity but there is a sign that Australian art is ponting the way to a new Australian garden consciousness. In my next article I will explore the influence of Australian art on the new exciting project in the Cranbourne Botanic Gardens.
Figure 9 These are all native plant species in the Australian plant garden . It has the same relaxed feel as the Nooroo garden but with native species, It shows the way to go for Australian gardens.