2025 Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show

Today I was lucky enough to take in a world of colour, scent, texture and imagination at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.

It’s been 20 years since I last visited, and back then I must admit I found it to be a little ho-hum.

Too much emphasis on hard landscaping and minimalist and structural planting. Too many grasses, yuccas, water features, rendered walls and not enough natural elements, flowers and generous garden beds.

But this year it was very different. While there were still lots of grasses, they were contrasted with delicate flowers, rocks, timber and rusted garden edging. Sculptures were used to break up the planting and capture the Australian sunlight. I also loved to see the vast array of native plants used alongside succulent and exotic cottage-style plants, as well as seeing edible plants – such as thyme and basil- woven into the landscape rather than be confined strictly to herb or vegetable gardens.

There were still the jaw-dropping and impressive show gardens for those with big ideas and deep pockets, but I also enjoyed the smaller scale gardens that are much more achievable for most hobby gardeners to achieve.

I saw lots of clever ideas that I wanted to share with you to implement them into your own garden.

Here are some examples:

This garden caught my eye with the rich glossy textures and colours of plant foliage and flowers contrasting with the gritty texture of the granitic sand, bluestone and rocks. The vivid pink backdrop perfectly complements the garden and the bench seat is positioned to enclose the user in the prime location to appreciate this beautiful garden.

In your own garden, don’t be afraid to use bold colour and position seating within the garden rather than placing in open areas like the back lawn or in the middle of a large paved area.

Beautiful native textures and colours. I particularly love the feathery purple flowers of the Ptilotus. You will notice in this garden that we have the contrasting vertical strappy foliage of the Kangaroo Paw with the rounded tufts of surrounding plants.

When planting out your own garden, think of plants as shapes. It’s good to mix horizontal (ground covers), round (small shrubs) and vertical (grasses) to add visual interest. Also remember that the foliage lasts all year round but flowers are seasonal so start with foliage first when selecting plants.

Love the use of herbs in ornamental beds. Don’t feel you must plant herbs and vegetables in a designated garden. This garden effectively showcases prostrate rosemary (left) and thyme (right) as both edible (herbs) and ornamental plants.

This rosemary and thyme in this garden complements the Banksia showing that not only can they taste delicious in a meal, they can also look great as groundcover garden plants.

Here the garden designer made effective use of dead tree trunks to provide a sculptural element to the garden, showing you that the shape of dead trees can in some cases can add visual interest to your garden with a bit of imagination. They can also be used for birdlife habitat.

With all great garden design, the plants and built structure have a role to play in the landscape. When building or renovating your own garden, avoid just putting a certain plant or element such as a water feature because it looked good in the nursery and ask yourself how it works alongside the house and other plants in your garden.