Festival of Country Gardens

Festival of Country Gardens

Main Festival 31st October to 3rd November

Welcome to the 2019 Spring Festival of Country Gardens

Welcome to the opening of the 20th anniversary of the Festival of Country Gardens in the Blackwood and Southern Forests region. 1999 seems like an eternity ago, and during this time we have been proud to showcase countless beautiful gardens both large and small within this region.

I am sure for those that have visited us in the past, you may have made many friends, and of course, we would love to see you again this year to help us celebrate our anniversary.

We have 22 gardens for you to visit in the Blackwood Valley and Southern Forests regions.

This year we have a new entry format. Instead of buying your tickets at the entry of each garden you can purchase  your ticket through the booking button below. Or you may purchase your ticket in Bridgetown at Hillview Garden Centre  or Pemberton Visitors Centre.   If you are not computer savvy do not worry we will have Hillview Garden Centre manned from Thursday till Saturday afternoon for any ticket purchases. We have two varieties  of tickets. A full pass which entitles you to view all 22 gardens , for only $50 this also includes free  entry to our opening at the Rabbit Hole (see Events)  or we have a day pass for $25.00 just select which day you want, then print your ticket.   

On the opening night we have a guest speaker in Deryn Thorpe. Deryn, as most of you would know, is a journalist, garden consultant, podcaster, tour guide and events manager. We are grateful she can spare the time to open this festival. Deryn will be giving a lighthearted talk on “risqué roses”. Light refreshments will be served after Deryn’s talk.

In addition, we will be honoured with the company of Steve Wood who is an Australian horticulturist, talkback radio and gardening TV presenter, with more than 40 years experience in wholesale nursery production. He has a special interest in showing people how easy it is to grow food at home. He is also on the team of “All the Dirt”.

Following this we will have the pleasure to meet Julie Kinney who is an avid gardener and author of “The Garden Wanderer” and a tour guide. Julie has also been a selector for Australia’s Open Garden Scheme.

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As part of the activities leading to this years festival, we commissioned the local Men in Sheds group to construct 30 bird nest boxes. These were then handed to local artists, and we have an abundance of these in the community, to decorate for us. These will be available for purchase by auction on the 1st November by our quality auctioneer Alan Wilson.