Spring Garden Exploration of Tasmania with Sue McDougall

Day 1 Sunday 14 November, 2021 Embarkation

Day 1 Monday 20 September, 2021 Hobart
Tour members will meet at Hobart airport. Please book a flight to arrive in Hobart no later than 1.30 pm. We will have a guided tour of picturesque Hobart before visiting the ‘Patch’ at the Hobart Botanical Garden, an inspiring example of an urban community garden that was first started in 1995. We will see gorgeous new spring leaves on the mature trees in the Botanical Garden and beautiful spring flowers. In the evening we will enjoy a welcome dinner to meet Sue McDougall.

Day 2 Tuesday 21 September, 2021 Hobart
This morning will be free for individual exploration. In the afternoon we visit Corinda, an enchanting inner-city garden positioned around a beautifully restored Victorian house. A pleached linden tree walk in the shape of a U is under planted with clipped box hedges, frames the garden. Flower-packed perennial beds overflow with colour, contrasting with an intricate, stylized parterre and a profusion of hostas, lilies and other shade-lovers under mature trees, one of which is a 100 year old magnolia tree.

Day 3 Wednesday 22 September, 2021 Hobart
We drive through the apple-growing area of the Apple Isle to meet the Magnus family at Woodbridge nursery. They are plant collectors, who grow interesting perennials for the nursery industry and the cut-flower market. Set in 1.2 hectares, the garden includes one of the finest borders of David Austen roses to be seen in Australia. The garden is full of fruit trees and berry fruit, many espaliered to save space. This afternoon we continue through the Huon Valley to visit Eggs & Bacon Bay Cottage. The charming cottage sits on 0.2 hectares on the edge of the Huon River, a peaceful spot just up from Eggs and Bacon Bay, about an hour south of Hobart. Looking out across a magnificent sea of colour, it is impossible to believe that there was no garden here at all when Anne Le Ferve moved in just before the Christmas of 2000.

Day 4 Thursday 23 September, 2021 Hobart
In the morning we visit Crawleighwood Garden. This wonderful two hectare garden is nestled in the picturesque hills at Nicholls Rivulet near Cygnet in the beautiful Huon Valley. The garden features lush rhododendron woodland and rainforest with myrtles, rare and unusual plants, a wide variety of deciduous trees including maples, which will display their spring leaves, meandering paths, stone walls and a Gondwanan arboretum. In the afternoon, we visit Inverawe Native Gardens, Tasmania’s largest landscaped native garden. We will learn about the challenges faced by early botanists in dealing with native plants.

Day 5 Friday 24 September, 2021 Launceston
We travel to Launceston today, stopping on the journey at Ross, renowned for its convict-built bridge. We visit Prospect Villa and Gardens in Hamilton. This romantic, colour-blended garden is abundantly planted in a classic design and will become one of your favorites. We continue to Launceston, where we stay for four nights.

Day 6 Saturday 25 September, 2021 Launceston
Today we explore historic Woolmers Estate, one of the most historically significant heritage properties in Australia and home to the National Rose Garden of Australia. Covering two hectares, the garden provides visitors with a unique journey through the evolution of the rose. The garden is home to all the recognized rose families. We will also see the Heritage Vegetable Garden which houses heirloom vegetables and fruits, not commonly found today. We travel nearby to visit the historic gardens of Brickendon. First settled in 1825 by William Archer, it has been owned and farmed by the same family for over one hundred and eighty years.

Day 7 Sunday 26 September, 2021 Launceston
This morning we visit Panshanger, an elegant house and garden in the Greek revival style. The long entrance avenue and surrounding parkland are heavily wooded. A finely worked nineteenth-century iron gate opens to a flower garden full of roses. There is a unique pigeon tower positioned to be seen from the house terrace. In the afternoon we travel just out of Launceston to visit Entally House, the first National Trust house in Australia. Built in 1820 by Thomas Reibey, the house has an elegant garden set in forty-five hectares.

Day 8 Monday 27 September, 2021 Launceston
Today we enjoy a visit to Bridestowe Estate lavender farm, which is the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is set in a picturesque setting with mountains rising up in the distance and fertile farming land in the foreground. We will have a guided tour to see the inside of the operation and time in the attractive gift shop. We travel to Clarendon, one of Australia’s great Georgian houses. It was completed in 1838 for wealthy wool grower and merchant James Cox. The house and gardens have been restored to their original condition.

Day 9 Tuesday 28 September, 2021 Burnie
A highlight garden visit to Wychwood Garden and Nursery this morning. It has been designed with fluid lines and sensuous curves. Borders full of perennials, old and new species roses and grasses are found within these boundaries. There is also a productive fruit and vegetable garden and a heritage apple orchard. Later we visit Old Wesleydale, a peaceful English garden abounding with hedges and walls, productive potager and lovely vistas. Features include a walled garden, picking garden and glass house, the terrace garden and new aviary building, ha-ha wall, Lake Walk and sculptured elephant hedge. We check into our Burnie hotel late afternoon.

Day 10 Wednesday 29 September, 2021 Burnie
This morning we visit Table Cape Farm, which specializes in growing tulips. They should be spectacular in full colour at the time of our visit. In the afternoon we visit Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden. Its unique design makes it one of Australia’s major rhododendron gardens. We will see over 22,000 rhododendrons and other select plants set among eleven hectares with a series of “countries” from which the wild rhododendrons originate, within authentic built environments. We return to Burnie and the rest of the day is for individual activity. This evening we will enjoy a farewell dinner to celebrate the enjoyable time we have had in Tasmania.

Day 11 Thursday 30 September, 2021 Departure
We will first visit the Tasmanian Arboretum. It consists of thirty-three hectares of peaceful treed landscape covered with gorgeous spring leaves. We continue with a visit to Kaydale lodge, a unique large country garden spanning two hectares with features such as woodland ponds, streams, waterfalls, pear walk, stonewalls, fritillaria meadow, massed trilliums, a dry zen garden & more. We will enjoy a guided tour of the garden, which has been designed and maintained by the Crowden family, who are all keen gardeners. Their innovation and styles are reflected throughout the garden. We continue to the airport early afternoon and the tour concludes. Please don’t book flights before 3.00 pm.