Ten Romantic Garden Elements

Ten Romantic Garden Elements

In February I gave an armchair tour of Romantic Rose Gardens from around the world to an enthusiastic group of twenty at the Watsonia Library. During my photo presentation we came up with ten design elements which we could use to add a little romance to our home...
My Tribute To David C. H. Austin

My Tribute To David C. H. Austin

The whole rose world has been saddened by the passing of David Austin Senior on December 18th 2018 aged 92 years. He had a vision to combine the beauty and shrubby growth of old world roses with the repeat-flowering abilities and the much wider colour palette of...
Living Coral

Living Coral

Each year the Pantone Colour Institute announces a Colour of the Year. This year the colour is Living Coral, an orange-pink tropically inspired colour symbolising our innate need for optimism and joyful pursuits.  The Living Coral colour encourages light-hearted...
In Full Bloom

In Full Bloom

The Morwell Centenary Rose Garden, a WFRS Garden of Excellence, was looking spectacular on 17th November 2018 for the Morwell Rose Garden Festival.  A picture tells a thousand words so please enjoy this photographic essay of a special day in a wonderful garden. Thank...
Manet’s Roses

Manet’s Roses

I have always admired the rose paintings of Edouard Manet (1832 -1883).   There is a spontaneity and freshness to them that I love  as if he had just picked the roses from his garden and carelessly tossed them onto the table cloth or even dropped them into a champagne...

Around the World in 28 Roses

I enjoyed sharing a world of roses in my exhibition The Universal Language of the Rose at Space2b artspace at 144 Chapel Street St Kilda on the 2nd to the 26th October, 2018.   Garden cultivation of roses began around 5000 years ago but in the late 1700s it was...