IN THE PINK
PLUMP ROSES IN PASTEL SHADES THRIVE ALONGSIDE RARE BOTANICALS IN CAITLYN MASON’S WILD AND WONDROUS GARDEN IN TOOWOOMBA, QLD.
Nurse Caitlyn Mason gives us a tour of the rose garden at her 1897 cottage in Queensland’s ‘Garden City’, Toowoomba.
PEEK OVER THE FENCE OF NORWOOD ROSES, the fairy floss-coloured cottage positioned on a street corner in Queensland’s ‘Garden City’ of Toowoomba, and flower bombs of sweet hues and sugar puffs of blooms reveal themselves. Caitlyn Mason, a registered nurse, bought the property in 2016, romanced by its long history starting as a general store and residence in 1897. Along with her partner, Sam Clothier, a business analyst, the quietly determined Caitlyn started renovating the run-down building, but was quickly sidetracked by the bare yard. “I just wanted it to be full and lush, and for every area to be beautiful,” she says. “My vision was to grow flowers that I could cut and give as gifts or thank yous.”
Norwood Roses is now flush with the gorgeous florals and intoxicating scents you would expect of a cottage flower garden: dahlias, towering foxgloves, hydrangeas, cosmos and, of course, endless roses – the inspiration behind the property’s name.
Situated on a block of 405 square metres, the multilevelled garden wraps around the home in an L-shape. “There is no front yard because the old shopfront opened onto the footpath,” says Caitlyn. “In terms of maximising a small yard space, the position of the house is amazing.”
The L-shape is divided into three sections: rose beds positioned off the back verandah; an elevated, grassed terrace bordered by a heady mix of perennials; and Caitlyn’s densely planted wildflower ‘meadow’ in between the potting shed and house. Herbaceous abundance overflows onto the meandering path that leads to the front gate, where an arbour swathed in roses greets passers-by.
Caitlyn and Sam created the layout, designing for aesthetics as well as improved functionality of the plot. “The yard was on quite a steep slope, and the soil was built up around the house, which was bad, so we worked with an excavator to get the drainage right,” Caitlyn says. “Sam had the vision of it being terraced with different levels, whereas I wanted it rambling, full and flowing. And I wouldn’t have added any grass!”
She is quick to admit, however, that the outcome is a success. “It’s an amalgamation of our ideas, and it works. Each area has a different feeling, but they all tie in with the theme of the cottage and the colours.” >
With her former work as a fashion market editor in the publishing world, Caitlyn views the garden with an editing eye, and finds herself having to rein in her excitement about varietals and range. “I’m a bit of a plant collector, so I have to balance prettiness with this obsession I have with plants!” she says. “It’s an interesting balance because you have to refine constantly, so you don’t make the garden look higgledy-piggledy.”
Caitlyn loves rare flowers, and searches far and wide for seeds and tube stock, daytripping to nurseries or hunting for growers online. Her fellow members of the Queensland Dahlia Society, her horticulturist brother, and Sam’s mum, who once owned a nursery, are a rich source of plants and botanical advice.
Norwood Roses’ ensemble of florals and greenery ensures colour – and something to pick – all year round. “We plant for four seasons, so we do a lot of successional planting. We’ll do a hydrangea next to hellebore next to a Japanese anemone and some bulbs, and that’s the four seasons in one garden,” Caitlyn explains.
Already deeply enamoured with the biography of her candy-pink cottage, the passionate green-thumb has developed a connection to the suburban plot, where the workload is shared with Sam, and the jobs never end. “Our lives are controlled by the garden’s season,” she says. “In summer, it’s obviously a lot more work, as I have to keep more things alive, and then in winter we do the maintenance jobs. We’ve got these rituals, like in dahlia season, we have a particular day for dahlia-dividing. Your life becomes entwined with the seasons.”
There are elements of formality here – brick edges and trimmed hedges – but the overall feeling is of a wild, heartfelt expression that speaks of a pure love for plants. Norwood Roses is Caitlyn’s canvas, and a blushing palette of pretty blooms is her medium. “Gardening wasn’t even on my radar when I was younger, but I’ve always been interested in creating beauty,” she shares. “I was looking for a creative outlet when I left my fashion role. I replaced my work in fashion with creating beauty in the garden.”
When it comes to shaping pockets of beauty in gardens as a professional endeavour, Caitlyn remains hesitant. “I’d never say never, but I like the balance of my life now,” she says. “I like the creative outlet of gardening and not having the pressure that it’s my job. It could take the fun away from something that I find so enjoyable.”
Follow Norwood Roses on Instagram @norwoodroses