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

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.

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. Next, visit the home and garden of celebrity chef, Annie Smithers. Have lunch here before enjoying a special garden tour of Stonefields, the private garden of Paul Bangay. Stonefields is heavily influenced by the philosophy of Italian hill villas and gardens.

Travel to Kinglake to visit Antique Perennials nursery and display garden, where you’ll see hard-to-find perennials, bulbs, grasses and alpines. Afterwards, we make our way to the Edible Forest in the Yarra Valley. With more than 300 plants growing within a one-acre forest garden, everything is either edible or medicinal. Enjoy lunch here before continuing to Coombe Farm for a guided tour of Dame Nellie Melba’s breathtaking garden, set on seven acres, beautifully designed by William Guilfoyle. The garden’s most striking feature is the towering grand cypress hedge, planted in 1909, which adds an air of grandeur to this historic estate. During dinner tonight, enjoy a special Melbourne Flower Show lecture by regular judge Teena Crawford.

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.

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 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 5.30 pm.