The gardener’s bucket list
MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW in Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show in Melbourne, Australia
With its spectacular floral displays and garden designs reflecting emerging trends, this event is an inspiration to gardeners and designers around the world, writes JUDY HORTON
Almost all garden shows feature interesting plants, educational activities, exciting landscaping ideas, and the chance to buy something new for the garden. So, apart from being Australia’s largest show – and having possibly the longest name – what makes the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show extra special?
I’d venture that no other show in the world enjoys such a perfect setting: a UNESCO World Heritage-listed building and public garden sited in immediate proximity to the CBD of a major city.
When the show’s home, the Royal Exhibition Building (REB) and Carlton Gardens, achieved its coveted heritage listing in 2004, the combined site was described as being “of historical, architectural, aesthetic, social and scientific (botanical) significance to the State of Victoria”. The significance of the REB, however, extends beyond Victoria, as it hosted the first Commonwealth parliament in May 1901. This gives every Australian a sense of ownership of this huge, ornate edifice that has been carefully maintained and sympathetically restored since it was constructed in 1879–80.
The building’s Victoriana is matched by the garden’s landscape, with established trees such as oaks, poplars, cedars and ornamental figs, two lakes, and numerous flower and shrub beds set in sweeping lawns. An avenue of gigantic plane trees leads to the decorative fountain in the forecourt. Strict guidelines are followed by exhibitors to protect the Gardens.
In laconic Aussie style, the show’s name has been abbreviated to the more comfortable MIFGS (pronounced ‘mifgus’). MIFGS descends from a well-established tradition of autumn horticultural shows
in Melbourne, a city that has long been honoured for its horticultural excellence. Regular autumn garden shows began in Melbourne in the 1920s.
This tradition continued, with a hiatus during World War II, until 1996, when the Victorian Nursery Association joined with Flowers Victoria, who staged the Australian National Flower Show in the REB for a few years prior, to create the first MIFGS. Since then, this iconic show has been held annually, except for last year when it was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
It’s a great shame that MIFGS has had to be cancelled again, thanks to the pandemic. It’s possible it will be staged later this year; but failing that, add it to your bucket list for next year. If you haven’t been, you really should go, and if you have, you should go again. Because every year the latest and greatest in horticulture is on show. There are enticing new plants, innovative garden products, lectures, talks, and lavish display gardens by top Australian designers.
Horticulture students are responsible for creating the popular Avenue of Achievable Gardens, while inside the building, dubbed the Great Hall of Flowers, florists stage magical displays and workshops, and sympatico groups and businesses feature art, photography, other cultural activities and garden tour details.
Other indoor and outdoor opportunities, such as children’s entertainment, places to eat or picnic, and travelling musicians, are also on offer. There’s so much to see and do that it’s good, if possible, to spread your visit over more than a single day.
The only creatures that enjoy MIFGS more than the thousands of flower lovers and plantaholics are the garden’s resident brushtail possums. Exhibitors have learnt to cover their carefully crafted displays with exclusion netting each evening, or run the risk of finding nothing left in the morning!
NEED TO KNOW
MIFGS has been cancelled this year but is normally held in the last week of March in the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens. Located on the edge of the CBD, it can be accessed via the entrances on Victoria Street and Museum Plaza. You can get there by bus, train or free tram
(see right). Buy tickets online prior to the show, or at either entrance on show days. Entry is not permitted after 4.15pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, or after 8.30pm on Friday.