The 15th HRiA Biennial Conference,
Glen Waverley VIC, 2023
The long awaited heritage rose conference took place at Glen Waverley and surrounding areas from 27th till 30th October 2023 with a very well organised post conference tour for the next two days. How good it was to meet up with old friends as well as some new ones after such a long hiatus. Only a small group of rosarians joined the conference this time, 71 in all, disappointing, but understandable with our aging numbers and reluctance to travel since covid. So we could all fit onto two buses, named appropriately General Gallieni and Lady Hillingdon.
The conference began with Julie Lack ensuring we all toed the line and her firm but friendly presence as MC ensured the whole conference ran smoothly.
Shirley Yates, as after dinner speaker, spoke about the Marysville Heritage Rose Garden developed after the devastating bush fires of 2009, and this was especially appropriate as we spent time there the next day admiring the beautiful garden all established since the fires. Especially poignant was a video shown in their museum which depicted the fire as it spread and destroyed everything in its path.
We all found John Nieuwesteeg’s garden & nursery at Yellingbo a fascinating stop over. Grassed pathways and narrow garden beds ensured his roses were easily accessible with lots of bulbs and perennials complimenting them. I was especially impressed with ’Desert Glow’ a glowing apricot hybrid tea. Some of his beautiful seedlings, in raised beds at the rear of the house, were quite magnificent.
That night was the Gala Dinner when Dr Clare Gleeson from New Zealand spoke about Alfred Buxton’s roses and awards were conferred. Bonita Cattell received a distinguished service award, Lynn Chapman received the Trevor Nottle Award, The Deane Ross Memorial award was given to Glennis Clark while Life Membership was awarded to John Niewesteeg and Jill Collins.
The next day, Sunday, was a very big day when we visited four gardens.
Sages Cottage Farm was inspirational, heritage listed and dedicated to caring for disadvantaged youth who did a great job ensuring the garden and farm animals were lovingly maintained. A massive ‘Belle Portugaise’ grew in the cottage courtyard, an offspring of Rosa gigantea, but bred by Henri Cayeux who, like Alister Clark, used Rosa gigantea extensively in his breeding programme.
The Mornington Botanical Rose Garden was an extensive area much of it devoted to modern roses meticulously set out, well labelled and colour coordinated. Heritage roses grew around the Education Centre with Teas holding pride of place and softened by perennial plantings.
We were all excited to visit Oak Tree Park, the new home of Judy Barrett whose Morning Star hosted our conference back in 2008. And what a lovely country garden it is with wide lawned areas and garden beds massed with old fashioned plants and roses. Many exotic trees gave shade while a long avenue of spotted gums led up to the house.
Cheryl Randle, who developed Martha Park Gardens was a real character who delighted us all with her boundless enthusiasm and energy. We were hard pressed to keep up with her as she galloped through her large intricate garden pointing out plants of interest and what she had developed over the past 17 years. Her garden is a real credit to her.
During the final day of the conference we visited three public gardens, the first being the Victoria State Rose Garden at Werribee, always a delight with its huge array of roses growing in every conceivable way – bushes, standards, weeping standards, pillars, trellises and archways. However, the heritage roses growing around the periphery were the main attraction. Then it was on to the Geelong Botanic Gardens, where, unfortunately, we only had time to explore the rose garden which was resplendent, planted in groups to show rose history. Alister Clarkes repository of roses at Bulla was our final destination and the meticulously manicured garden with wide gravelled pathways and perennial edging of hardy plants made this garden a delight. ‘Daydream’ was looking especially resplendent near the entrance, flanked by the brilliantly coloured ‘Editor Stewart’.
We then said goodbye to those of us who were leaving and the next day one bus load set off east to West Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley.
Picardy was an amazing garden with ramblers and other plants tumbling over each other in a riot of colour while self sown annuals filled up any available space. The very friendly owners, Marian & Bryce Somes, gave us a resume of the history of their garden which started out as 24acres of bare paddocks. They were obsessed with everything French, which became the basis of their design and Marion has described their journey in an enchanting book, “Picardy”, which many of us bought.
After a tasty lunch at the Yarragon Hotel, we travelled on to the Morwell Centenary Rose Garden, awarded a Garden of Excellence and rightly so. What a magnificent garden mainly run by volunteers. It covers a huge area with roses escaping into car parks and motels. A huge arbour of ‘Lamarque’ was especially impressive. Despite gusty weather with intermittent rain, nothing could dampen our enthusiasm as we explored what this impressive garden had to offer – and the roses were named, an added bonus.
The last day of our post conference tour took us to Dame Nellie Melba’s garden where we had a very informative tour through the extensive grounds filled with many old trees, some planted over 100 years ago. The 7 acre garden is divided into many ‘rooms’, each with its own style and the house was originally reached via a long driveway lined with 106 English elms.
The last garden we visited, Alowyn Gardens, was huge and we were presented with a plan of the garden, certainly needed as it was easy to get lost. There were so many unusual and beautiful plants in this garden which also housed a very interesting nursery. A long wisteria walkway interspersed with ‘Crepuscule’ and ‘Pierre de Ronsard’ formed a long axis with a beautiful sunken garden edged with star jasmine as the central point.
Our final visit for the day was to somewhere completely different – the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & ice creamerie, where we could indulge in decadent chocolates while nibbling delicious icecreams.
Once again, Heritage Roses came up with an exciting, interesting and informative conference. Special thanks must go to Jill Collins who did so much to ensure that the conference went ahead despite many setbacks and was also able to organise the very popular post conference tour.
Sue Zwar, Barossa & Beyond
