Sunraysia’s best gardens: It’s coming up roses

WALKING up a small hill en route to checking out the roses at the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens this week, I wasn’t fully prepared for the sensory delight I was about to experience.

As I got to the top of the hill, I was blown away by the brilliance of a sea of 1500 multicoloured roses, sitting below in well-crafted garden beds and climbing over arbors that make an ideal wedding location.

It was the start of several “wow” moments at the gardens, located a short drive from Mildura (but long wait in peak commuting hours at ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ on George Chaffey Bridge) across the Murray River at Mourquong.

Sunraysia Daily last month started highlighting the region’s best gardens, and this volunteer-run site takes the cake so far.

The walk among the spectacular showcase of roses, which were planted in June 1992 when a former sheep farm was transformed into the first semi-arid botanic gardens in the southern hemisphere, was something to behold.

Some have been replaced over the years with better varieties, but these roses have stood the test of time and become standouts.

The man overseeing the 28-year life of the gardens is Brian Cuddy, an effervescent character who is a font of knowledge on native plants.

Brian took Daily photographer Carmel Zaccone and I on a car tour around the gardens, starting at the rose garden and then stopping off at the 2500-year-old Eucalyptus oleosa, known as the gardens’ Mallee “Wow” tree, and the bunya pine tree, which produces giant pine cones.

However, it was the rose garden – which hosts about half of the 18 weddings each year at the botanic gardens – that stole the show.

“It really is special,” Mr Cuddy said.

Reflecting on his nearly three decades running the site, he said: “When I first came here, it was a sheep paddock and there was a few mallee (trees).

“The rose garden was the first thing we put in place and we then put in a European section.

“I couldn’t imagine way back then, putting six-inch pots into the ground, what things were going to look like.

“The rose garden is wonderful at this time of year. It’s the same with our mass plantings of daisies through the African section of the garden. They are in full bloom in white, pink and yellow.

“The multiple colours of hippeastrums are looking great, too, and the nature trail has some beautiful, rare grevilleas, including a yellow one from Pooncarie.”

The garden guru is calling for more volunteers to help out with the massive expanse of gardens.

“We’re located on 370 acres – 124 acres on this block, which features the rose garden, and 140 acres next door, the western reserve, and another 105 acres, which is the riverine site,” he said.

“It’s Crown land that was gifted to the community to become the gardens you see today. And we now have about 10,000 different plants here.

“There’s a lot to look after … and the more volunteers we can get the better. Most of our 60 regular volunteers are probably (aged) 70 upwards.

“I’ve got one fella here who is 91 who comes out and deadheads the roses. He’s been doing it as long as I can remember.

“But we could use some younger blood to help out with tasks that are difficult for the older volunteers.

“For most of the ladies, deadheading is OK, but it’s tough for them to get down and weed.”

Mr Cuddy also revealed the botanic gardens’ plans to upgrade the site, which relies on government grants and community donations to operate.

“What we’re doing at the moment, as you would have seen on the driveway (from the River Road entrance), is an irrigation upgrade there,” he said.

“Our drip system is too far beyond us for the amount of staff we have. There’s only a couple of us, when we should have 20. We’re also putting a lot of sprinklers into (garden) beds.

“And we’re going to remove the New Zealand section and revamp it, because it doesn’t like our heat. That will eventually have grevilleas and banksias and eucalypts.”

He said that this team was also going to put in a Melaleuca leptospermum near the gardens’ southern lakes.

“There’ll be a beautiful little spot for people to sit in a mountain cabin-type thing to enjoy the views through the lake to the African summer hut,” he said.

“We’re also revamping the subtropical beds, and a new heritage food area is on the way.

“We’ve also applied for a grant to construct a path for visitors to walk around the attractions.”

While the volunteer-run site is still a work in progress, the magnificence of the roses in particular makes it a must-see for all garden lovers before the summer heat kicks in.

For Victorian residents, border permits, required for adults and children, are available at www.service.nsw.gov.au.

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