Where have all the flowers gone?...
So what about the flowers you say? Well I must admit whilst the flower displays were amazing I was running out of time so only concentrated on a few stand outs. Here are some of the more unique arrangements. Apologies as there are a couple I don't have credits for. Note the use of bird cages and an oriental influence was popular, I also noticed the use of wire as a decorative addition.
A Tropical Oasis...
Taking the silver medal was Christian Jenkins Malaysia Truly Asia design which featured an outdoor bath, a bedroom which opened out into the lush tropical garden and a real live parrot!
The central feature was a 'walk over water' pond. Central to the rear pavilion was an amazing carved timber door.
An Australian Billabong...
Its amazing to see how much work can go into these gardens, I think you realise this when a garden seems too good to be temporary [the Malaysian garden and Dirtscape Dreaming's imagine were also examples of this]. Winning Gold-Best in show & Best show garden, Habitat by Phillip Johnson Sustainable Landscape Systems was a gorgeous example of the evident return to native plantings and gardens that are less about architecture and more about greenery & sustainability. The natural waterhole landscape was created from materials that were recycled and with the exception of a couple, obtained from within 100km of the site.
Plants included indigenous species with bush food, the garden is designed to not only survive the Australian conditions but also support local fauna. A truly sustainable solution, the gardens rear boundary is actually a 3 panel high solar wall generating enough power to run the entire site. A chook pen, an orchard mound and vegetable garden were essential features. I could write so much more on this garden as it is so well designed and every detail has been thought of when it comes to sustainabilty. But best of all for me it was a truly beautiful 'backyard'. For more click here.
The amazing chandelier which I thought was a great contrast to its natural surroundings, was created by Miles Johnson Glass.
An Urban Cage...
Winner of Fleming's Student design competition was Urban Cage by Alicia Ferrer of Challenger College in Perth. Her aim was to make the small urban 5 x 5m space feel more like an open area by exploiting the 3 dimensions, essentially using the entire 5 cubic metre space with a play on geometry.
Tangled in gold...
An outdoor room designed by Paal Grant for Entanglements also took Gold for best show garden. Entanglements hand-make amazing metal garden art and this garden really displayed how their work can be the inspiration for an entire outdoor space. I especially like the use of the vertical gardens [another trend that actually began to clearly emerge last year - perfect for space challenged urban garden].
Other vertical displays...
I love the vertical garden walls or 'living walls' that are very on trend and oh so practical [I've also seen great indoor versions]. Above is Your Urban Oasis by Carey Cavanagh Landscape Design & Construction.
The Relativity garden by James Dawson also made great use of vertical space and I quite liked the way the architecture integrated into the greenery. Relativity was awarded Bronze show garden.
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