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Natasha Morgan

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Your Ultimate Gardening Inspiration Resource – Curated by our community for our community

March 01, 2025

One of the most wonderful things about gardening is that it’s never a solitary journey. It’s shaped by the wisdom, creativity, and generosity of others—whether it’s a fellow gardener sharing a simple tip that transforms the way we grow, or an inspiring account that sparks new ideas for our own spaces.

I recently invited my community to share their favourite Instagram accounts and other go-to resources for gardening inspiration, and the response was nothing short of magical. The love, knowledge, and passion that poured in from so many of you has created something truly special—a collective resource, built together, to inspire and support every gardener, from beginners to seasoned growers.

This blog is a celebration of that shared wisdom. A gift from our community, for our community. I’m beyond grateful to everyone who contributed, and I hope this becomes a space you return to time and again when you’re looking for fresh ideas, guidance, or simply a little gardening joy.

How to Use This Resource:

Below, you’ll find a curated list of Instagram accounts, websites, and other tools that have been recommended by fellow garden lovers. To make it easy to navigate, I’ve grouped them into themes—from kitchen gardens and edible landscapes to floral artistry, sustainable growing, and beyond.

I invite you to explore, follow, and be inspired—and if you have more to add, I’d love to keep this resource growing! 

Productive Gardens & Kitchen Gardens

(A collection of Instagram accounts focused on growing food, edible landscapes, and self-sufficiency.)

@moonacresfarm_official: A certified organic fruit and vegetable farm in the Southern Highlands of NSW, supplying local farmers' markets and restaurants.

@charles_dowding: A gardener and renowned for promoting the no-dig gardening method, Charles Dowding shares insights on creating productive vegetable gardens with minimal soil disturbance

@huwsgarden: Huw Richards offers practical advice on growing food in small spaces, focusing on organic and sustainable practices.

@thediggersclub: An Australian organisation dedicated to heirloom gardening, providing seeds, plants, and gardening advice to cultivate productive and diverse gardens.

@thelittlegrowers: Focuses on engaging children in gardening, offering resources and inspiration to cultivate young gardeners.

@anya_thegarden_fairy: Is a digital creator powered by ADHD, a speaker, and the author of a Sunday Times Bestseller. She shares practical tips for creating great gardens on a budget, plant propagation techniques, and engaging tutorials

@susienugentg: Shares insights into organic gardening, sustainable practices, and the joys of growing your own food.

Sustainable & Regenerative Growing

(For those passionate about organic practices, permaculture, and working with the land in a thoughtful way.)

@milkwood: Offers DIY guides, courses, and a free online library focused on sustainable living skills, including gardening and food production.

@goryu_japanese_gardens: Showcases authentic Japanese gardens based on nine themed gardens of Japan, promoting sustainable gardening practices.

@yambulla: Is a place where Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are looking for new ways to share the rewards and responsibilities of Caring for Country.

@thethriftygardener: Also known as Millie, she is a gardener, explorer, and doer who makes noise, mostly about plants, and is based on Taungurung country, Australia. She is also a presenter.

@outbackgardens: Cass Hooke offers guidance on building dream gardens, focusing on sustainable practices in the Australian outback.

Seasonal Flowers & Floristry

(Gardeners and florists who celebrate the beauty of seasonal blooms, cut flower gardening, and naturalistic design.)

@microflowerfarm: Specialises in agriculture and flower farming with organic, regenerative practices on small acreage. They promote building cottage gardens instead of lawns and offer dahlia tuber sales and growing classes.

@fleurs_de_lyonville: Located in the Daylesford & Macedon Region, offers organically grown flowers for weddings, eco-friendly funerals, workshops, and more, as well as pottery vases.

Garden Designers & Landscape Architecture

(A collection of visionaries who create breathtaking garden spaces, from small courtyards to vast landscapes.)

@superbloomau: Creative plant practice bringing dynamic living beauty and diversity to gardens and landscapes through planting design and horticulture.

@ladysmith_park_perennials: Is a rural perennial nursery located in Riverina, NSW, offering boutique garden design services and featuring a New Perennial Movement show garden.

@peachy_green_: A landscape architecture studio based in Melbourne, creating lush handcrafted gardens for lovers of green.

@ke_landscape_consultant: Is a passionate #landscapedesign consultant from Melbourne who can design your dream landscape.

@highfield_gardens: Provides garden design inspiration and tips, documenting the transformation of an 8-acre cow paddock into a house and garden.

@hart_vale_gardens: Shares inspiration for creating beauty through gardening, featuring a rural garden with stunning views and luxury accommodation.

@carolynrobinsongardendesign: A garden designer and plantswoman based in Tenterfield, NSW, offering insights into garden design and plant selection.

@t.p_gardens: Specialises in naturalistic garden designs tailored to modern Australian contexts, showcasing various projects and design ideas.

@emmasadiethomson: Focuses on plant styling, landscape design, and connecting people to nature through commercial and residential projects.

@artfulmeadow: A nursery showcasing a blend of gorgeous, unusual, edible and useful plants, focusing on developing meadows, woodlands and forest gardens that are aesthetically pleasing and ecologically beneficial.

@reverie_101garden_: John FitzGibbon & Paul Smith designed and planted a garden for a Masters Thesis in Landscape Art, which was featured on Gardening Australia & The Horti-Culturalists on YouTube in 2022.

@annmaree.winter: Annie, a passionate gardener.

@pietoudolf: Piet Oudolf is a garden designer known for his naturalistic planting style, emphasising the beauty of perennials and grasses.

@adam_hancock: Full-time gardener, Aldgate, wanting projects that connect community to nature through wow-factor gardening and native biodiversity.

@d.rumenos: Together with her husband Matt, they are creating a diverse and resilient garden on a windswept hill in South Western Australia, on Bibbulmun country.

@michaelmccoyongardens: Michael McCoy is a garden designer, writer, and host of ABC TV's Dream Gardens.

@simon_rickard: Simon Rickard is a gardener, plantsman, and baroque bassoonist.

@fishermansbay_garden: Gardener Jill Simpson’s garden near Akaroa, New Zealand, offers beautiful views over the rugged Pacific coastline, changing season by season.

@michaelcookegardendesign: Michael Cooke is an artist, Australian garden designer, and author with a love of design, art, plants, and horses. He lives north of Sydney with a large garden and home studio.

@tomstuartsmith: Renowned landscape architect and garden designer, sharing insights into his projects and design philosophy.

@charlie.harpur: Charlie Harpur is a plantsman, designer, and ecosystem engineer serving as the head gardener.

@ashley_james_gardens: Ashley James is an Australian garden designer blending Arts and Crafts principles with contemporary elements to create harmonious outdoor spaces.

@stem_emmalinebowman: Emmaline Bowman is a landscape architecture designer creating environments with integrity, specialising in zoological and habitat design, and water gardens.

@thestonescentralvictoria: A stunning garden in central Victoria, Australia, that emphasises sustainable and aesthetically pleasing landscaping, featuring dry-stone walls, local plants, and thoughtful design.

@kmldesign_gardens: Kathleen Murphy Landscape Design specialises in garden design for homeowners, with over 600 gardens created. She also offers online courses for DIY garden planning.

@brockstar64: Fiona Brockhoff is a landscape designer, family woman, and nature lover who gardens on Boon Wurrung and Bunurong land. She is a hiker, recycler, skier, and passionate about working with nature, as well as events.

@phillip_withers: Phillip Withers is a designer running a landscape architecture and horticulture studio in Melbourne.

@phillip_johnson_landscapes: Phillip Johnson Landscapes is a multi-award-winning landscape design and build company, specialising in billabongs, natural pools, and creating sustainable habitats, always working with nature, not against it.

@thehabitatguru: AB Bishop is a habitat-focused gardener, best-selling author, and a horticulture editor at Gardening Australia. She is also the host of the 3CR Gardening Show and a presenter at ABC Radio, based on Wurundjeri Country.

@christian_douglas_design: Christian Douglas Design is an architectural design studio, award-winning for its "Food Forward" design approach. Christian is also the founder of @thebackyardfarmco and the author of The Food Forward Garden.

@boatsend_garden: Sarah Budarick is a mad gardener creating a garden on a windy hillside in South Australia, alongside the resident kangaroos and rabbits. She is also a besotted grandmother of 6.

@thegardencurator: Colleen Southwell, known as The Garden Curator, is an artist and garden maker offering workshops and insights into garden design.

@bluehouse_amberley: Jenny Cooper is a gardener with a love for all things plantish. She experiments in dry gardening and is friends with mycorrhizae. The garden is an open garden in North Canterbury, New Zealand.

@brentonrobertsgardendesigns: Brenton Roberts is a designer working to transform 5 acres in the Adelaide Hills into lush gardens.

@gardeningwithangus: Angus Stewart is an award-winning horticulturist, former presenter on Gardening Australia, author, broadcaster, and plant breeder.

@ralphbristow_artist: Ralph Bristow lives in Barwite, North East Victoria, Australia. He is a painter, gardener, and painter with plants, offering garden design services and paintings.

@terrywinters9141: Terry Winters shares the day-to-day story of a garden. He was awarded the RHS ‘My Chelsea Garden’ Gold Medal (Back Garden) in a competition held in conjunction with BBC’s The One Show.

@highcroft.garden: Highcroft Garden, located in the Adelaide Hills, features 2 acres of country garden, offering workshops and events.

@saintremystudio: Saint Remy is a landscape design studio, creating gardens that make your heart sing.

@platylobium: Platylobium is a landscape company, with a design philosophy centred on creating functional landscapes that integrate design elements with the existing natural environment.

@oceanroadlandscaping: Ocean Road Landscaping creates beautiful and environmentally friendly gardens by the sea, in the country, and in town. They build locally and design anywhere.

@le_sac_: Offers garden tool belts designed for gardeners and beyond, emphasising the connection between gardening and culinary pursuits.

@trishadixonburkitt: Trisha (Dixon) Burkitt is a visual artist, writer, and photographer who lives life to the full. She occasionally leaves the road less travelled to lead landscape literary and cycling tours.

Chefs & Food Creators Focused on Garden-to-Plate

(For those who find joy in turning their harvest into something delicious, these accounts bridge the gap between growing and cooking.)

@glenmorehouse: Mickey Robertson enjoys idyllic days in the country, where she invites others to learn, dream, eat, and be inspired.

@babbingtonpark: Babbington Park is a farm and home to chef Annie Smiths and her wife Susan on 23 acres, featuring a restored chapel, a spring-fed lake, an 1880’s shearing shed, and the @du_fermier restaurant garden.

Let’s Keep This Growing! 

This list is just the beginning. There are always more inspiring voices, more gardeners with wisdom to share, and more ways to learn from each other. If you have a favourite account, website, or resource that isn’t listed here, please share it in the comments! I’ll continue updating this post so it remains a living, evolving source of inspiration for us all.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed—this is the true magic of community, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be on this journey with you. 

I’ve shared some of my favourite insights over the past year, like
Supporting Local Eco-Friendly Businesses on Facebook, The Hands That Grow and Cook: A Visit to Bar Midland’s Productive Garden on Instagram, and The Beauty of Diverse Productive Gardens on Pinterest. Each post has brought new ideas and connections to our wonderful community.

If you’ve enjoyed these, I’d love for you to join me in person at my upcoming workshops! It’s a chance for us to meet face-to-face, share stories, and dig deeper into all things sustainable gardening and community.

Can’t wait to meet you all and explore together—see you there!

Happy growing,

Natasha xx

For glimpses into workshops, daily life, and my thoughts from Little Cottage on a Hill, you can find me on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. And if you’d like a more personal update, subscribe to my Newsletter for a monthly note on what’s growing, what’s inspiring me, and what’s next.

Click the links below to stay connected—I’d love to have you along for the journey.

Tags: Garden Design Principles, Garden Design, Gardening, Vegetable Growing, Organic Gardening, Edible Gardening, The Productive Garden, Productive Gardens, Kitchen Garden, Homegrown Food, Permaculture
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The Productive Garden Companion is out in the USA. So I thought I’d celebrate by introducing you to one of the book’s North American contributors @christian_douglas_design. Christian Douglas is a British-born Californian landscape architect and garden designer. His practice, Christian Douglas Design, creates ecologically informed, food-productive landscapes. He has spent more than 30 years making gardens across England, Jordan and the United States. His projects have been covered by Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and many many more. And his design philosophy lives in his own beautiful book, The Food Forward Garden (definitely worth a read!) Christian, his studio and his backyard-farming crew at @thebackyardfarmco spent twelve years designing and farming side by side, and what they learned is simple: “When you grow food close to the house, people garden more, they learn quicker, they eat healthier.” Follow that idea through our conversation and you arrive here, at his hope for where garden design goes next: “My hope and dreams is that we actually remove the term edible, and they’re just called landscapes.” This clip is just a tiny snippet of the generous conversation Christian shared with me. The full conversation is available via the book’s QR-linked pages, along with conversations with 24 contributors from all over the world. The Productive Garden Companion is out now in Australia, the UK and the USA. Order wherever you are in the world via the link in my bio. If Christian’s words resonate, please share them with a gardening friend on your side of the world. Check out his work and book and let’s keep these conversations and important work going. Thanks so much Christian! It’s such a privilege to have your thoughts and words so generously shared find a way into my book. #Gardening #GardenDesign #KitchenGarden #GrowYourOwn #TheProductiveGardenCompanion @murdochbooks @murdochbooks_uk
I usually dread the big spring chop, but not this year! And well, that's because everything from the garden cutback was going to be transformed into something incredible. But more of that tomorrow…⁠ ⁠ Spring is a little later here in my Daylesford cold temperate garden. Over the years I've come to understand spring not as a date on a calendar but as an unfolding of small events. Each small observation compounds in my mental notebook through my morning garden lap until my brain shouts out to me - 'it's happening! Spring is nearly here!'⁠ ⁠ That moment hit last week. The little glimmer of fresh green shoots about to pop beckoned that it's time to shed the garden's winter layers! This big chop is a task I leave as long as I possibly can. The filigree of winter seed heads and umber grasses provide visual interest and structure across the colder months, but also, most importantly, they provide harbour and sustenance for insects and birds. The lorikeets go mad for the echinacea seedheads, and insects find homes inside hollow stems.⁠ ⁠ I believe a garden should be designed for interest all year round, and so with the 1000 fragrant jonquils and daffodils I planted as an understorey to winter, now pushing through the earth and many already flowering, it's time to let the spring bulbs sing whilst the rest of the garden wakes up.⁠ Here's a little video of the big chop. Now's the time to get inspired to refresh your own garden.⁠ ⁠ And tomorrow I'll show you where every armful of it ended up. It's not what you'd expect.⁠ ⁠ #springgarden #gardenmaintenance #wildlifegarden #TheProductiveGardenComoanion #NatashaMorgan⁠
They used to call Charles Dowding @charles_dowding the lazy gardener. He told me this from his extraordinary experimental no-dog market garden and international flagship, Homeacres in Somerset, UK, me at the kitchen table in Daylesford, Australia, in a conversation I recorded for The Productive Garden Companion. Somewhere along the way hard work became the point of gardening, and Charles has spent 40 years asking whether it has to be. Feed the soil and let the biology do the rest. It’s the same thing I’ve been trying to say about a whole garden: make one that gives more than it takes, do it thoughtfully and then consider if there’s ways you can ‘get out of its way’ to reap the rewards. That’s why the book holds whole conversations. Scan the QR code on the no-dig pages and you’re listening to Charles, unscripted, in real conversation generously and authentically shared. There are QR codes like this all through the book. Two years of work, and these are the part I’m probably proudest of - the part that takes the book beyond its pages and continues to expand with time. Books generally are capsules fixed in time. My hope is that this one shares, gives and evolves, but most importantly that it continues to walk beside you as your own garden journey grows. Charles has walked alongside me in my own growing journey over the years, providing hard won insight and inspiration. His conversation with me is an invitation for him to walk beside you too! I’m so honoured to announce that The Productive Garden Companion is out now in the UK (Murdoch Books) wherever you buy books, or via the link in my bio. Thank you so much Charles for finding your way into its pages. @murdochbooks_uk @murdochbooks #nodig #charlesdowding #theproductivegardencompanion #NatashaMorgan #ukgardening
Tonight I’ll stand in a room full of the people who have contributed to The Productive Garden Companion through its words, a life, and friendships - and hold it up this book amongst you all for the very first time.

I cannot wait  to be amongst
Tonight I’ll stand in a room full of the people who have contributed to The Productive Garden Companion through its words, a life, and friendships - and hold it up this book amongst you all for the very first time. I cannot wait to be amongst a room of the very special people who helped make this book happen. The growers, makers and thinkers whose hands are in every chapter, all in one room on one night. Friends from twenty years back. Family. And you, I hope. I keep trying to think about the words I’ll share. The beautiful faces I’ll see and what my community means to me - the bit where I say thank you out loud and I can’t get through it without emotions flooding in. I’ve just looked over the latest guest list and gosh there’s going to be some extraordinarily important people there tonight. I’d love to welcome you to that room too! Saturday’s Daylesford book launch is now sold out, so if you’ve been waiting for one of these, tonight is the first launch and there’s a handful of tickets left. Then it’s done. $15, welcome drinks and food included. Tickets: tap the link in my bio, choose ‘Natasha’s events, workshops & e-books’, then Melbourne Launch. Melbourne Book Launch Thursday 17 September 2026 5.30–7.30pm Firecracker Events 58A Victoria Rd, Northcote The biggest of big thanks to my dear friend Cassie @firecrackerevent , on this crazy journey with me since my student days in 2002, in more wonderful ways than I can count. Thank you to our incredible supporters @hepburndistillery @victorias.heartland @barry_and_co @thecottageherbalist @billypress_ @acreofroses @amber.gardener @stonewallsmusk @musklanewine @thediggersclub @gardencentresofaustralia @woodendgeneral @avenuebookstore @kateseddon_landscapedesign @mineralspringsco
If I look a bit bleary-eyed in this, it’s because of a book. There hasn’t been a lot of sleep around here lately, and all of it comes back to The Productive Garden Companion. Today is publication day. I keep trying to explain what this book is and I land in the same place every time. Yes, it’s a gardening book. It’s a book about landscape design. And underneath all of that, it’s a book about what it is to live well, and why I keep returning to the garden through every chapter of my life. In many ways it’s the culmination of fifty years of living. It’s the book I couldn’t find. A productive garden, to me, was never only about food. It’s healing. It’s solace. It’s wellbeing, community, biodiversity. It’s a garden that gives more than it takes, and that has been the ethos of this book from the very first page. I hope you find it as generous as you have been with me. Because the support has been unbelievable. Utterly phenomenal. And I truly know this book will find its way into the hands and hearts of people who perhaps didn’t even know they needed it. So this is my invitation. Wherever you are, wherever you grow, whatever your scale or your climate, a balcony with a few pots or a grand estate, this book is there to walk beside you. To inspire you, to empower you, to invite you to start where you are. Grow one thing. Even if that’s all you start with. And maybe let it ripple out. It’s out now. Online, in stores, and hopefully coming to libraries and schools near you. Find it where you find all good books. And I’m doing a massive run to the post office today to send out all of your incredible orders. Thank you. Thank you for being here. None of this happens alone. I have so much more to share. @murdochbooks #TheProductiveGardenCompanion #NatashaMorgan #MurdochBooks #GrowOneThing #GardenDesign
It is blowing a gale up here and I have come out to show you this garden one last time before it all gets cut down tomorrow. The calendar says spring. The garden says give me another few weeks. I go by what I can see, never by the date, and up here it is still wind, still cold, still last autumn lying over everything. It is all bleached and paper dry and moving about in the wind, which is exactly how I want it to look before it goes. I leave it standing all winter for that reason. The birds get the seed, the frost sits on the heads of a morning, and I get to watch the whole thing come apart slowly instead of tidying it away back in March. Tomorrow the lot comes off. We are cutting and bundling every grass and every seed head out of here, because all of it is going to become a botanical installation for the launch at @stonewallsmusk on Saturday the 19th and Sunday the 20th of September. Alissa from @larkspur_flowers__ and are going to create some magic out of it all to fill the gallery! Then when the exhibition comes down it moves on again, to the windows of @woodendgeneral , where I am doing a book signing with @thecottageherbalist and @billypress_ . That one is free but you do need to book so we know numbers. Link on my website. The orange geum stays where it is. So do the box balls, already clipped, holding the bones of the whole thing while everything else disappears. And then there is what is underneath, because under all of this last-of-autumn mess there are thousands and thousands of bulbs already up. That is deliberate. My gardens have to work hard right through the year, so the day I take this layer off, the colour is already there waiting. Structure from the box. Colour from the bulbs. I do think it is worth stopping and looking at a garden before it gets chopped. It is all the same cycle. Nothing is being lost here, it is just going somewhere else for a few weeks. Watch this space. I will take you back out tomorrow with the secateurs going. #gardendesign #gardenlife #australiangarden #LittleCottageOnAHill #TheProductiveGardenCompanion
One week. I can’t get my head around it! I never imagined what book publication day might feel like, and one week out I’m just starting to get a glimpse. Reflective, a little emotional, totally overwhelmed. A whole program of launch events kicks off next week: the Melbourne launch at @firecrackerevent on Thursday 17 September, then the exhibition and book launch at @stonewallsmusk in Musk on Saturday 19 September. But I didn’t start life as a country dweller. I started as a landscape architect with a whole lot of ideas and a whole lot of aspirations. An architecture degree, then landscape architecture, and 15 years working on public realm projects like the Australian Garden at Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne. I lectured for 10+ years across RMIT and Melbourne universities. Then I found a country property that was only ever supposed to be a weekender. Meg Travis @girlfridays_notes , captured in my book, said that when she first came to Oak & Monkey Puzzle it was ‘the first day of forever’. It was exactly the same for me. Someone I met out of the blue the other day told me that when they drive from Melbourne to Daylesford, there’s a point on the Ballan-Daylesford Road where they feel something shift. They knew the exact spot and knew nothing about me. That exact spot was Oak & Monkey Puzzle! The threshold of a life where landscape became something I did for me, and then shared outwards. A place that nourished me in ways I could never have imagined. Then came the epiphany about soil, sky, air and water, the one that runs all through the book, and it led me here. Little Cottage on a Hill in Daylesford. Sometimes it’s nice to look back and see how far you’ve come. Here’s a little trip down memory lane. I hope you’ll celebrate with me, not just the fact that the book is so nearly here, but the whole lifetime that got me here. It’s all in the book’s pages. It’s the book I couldn’t find. Part life story, part memoir, so to speak. A lifetime of gardening, a career in design, and the stories of so many contributors from around the world, generously shared. Here’s a snippet of a life that led me here. Book events are on my website
Hi everyone, I’m in my potting shed — greenhouse-y kind of a space — watering seedlings, and all my summer things are starting to germinate. It’s just the nicest time to be in here. I’ve just come back from two beautiful days in Adelaide for the Horticultural Media Association @hmaaustralia awards (Gardenstead @gardenstead was a finalist, so I was there flying the flag). And being back in the shed got me thinking. I’m going to start sharing the nuts and bolts of what I’m doing in my garden, day to day, on my @substack. Unpolished. Unfiltered. Not that I’m ever really filtered anyway. You’ll find this on my Substack account: (@natashamorgangardens) I want this to be a really generous, authentic, raw kind of space where you can actually join me. That’s what my book is all about too — The Productive Garden Companion. It’s a companion because I want it to walk beside you in the truest sense. Something that holds your hand. Something generous and real and warm, my words on the page literally just accompanying you. So here’s the invitation: come and join me on Substack. Share what you’re doing in your garden as I share what I’m doing in mine — I’d love to see it in the comments there. One last thing — all the events for the book are on my website (link in bio), with more being added all the time. I’m so, so grateful to the bookshops, venues and partners supporting me. It’s quite phenomenal, it really is. And to everyone who pre-ordered: thank you. If you haven’t, there’s still time (link in bio) — and bring your pre-ordered book along to one of the events so I can say thank you in person and sign it for you. I hope you’re having a beautiful day. And happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there! Natasha x #GardenWithMe #TheProductiveGardenCompanion #GardeningAustralia #PottingShed #NatashaMorgan
I am great in my own domain. The thought of being with hundreds of people from across Australia, even though united by a common love, still had me more than a little nervous, travelling to Adelaide as Gardenstead was a finalist at the HMAA Laurel Awards. But I can say, without the slightest reservation, is that in little more than 48 hours it become screamingly obvious that the gardening and horticultural industry holds some of the kindest, most generous, warm-hearted, engaging, authentic people you will ever find. From the HMAA awards held at the extraordinary estate and gardens of Carrick Hill. A room full of people I respect so greatly and deeply admire, from all over Australia. To last nights industry preview at provided a wonderful opportunity to thank Costa Georgiadis firsthand for his kindness in the words he shared about my book. I got to meet people I’ve been inspired by across an entire life. Sophie Thomson, for the very first time. Even managed to give Hannah Moloney a good squeeze. Mamma mia, she is a woman who stands tall, and not just in stature. In energy. What a powerhouse. What an absolute inspiration. Angus Stewart, a delight as always. Sharing a room with Graham Ross. Liz Wilson of Gardening Australia magazine, what an extraordinary person she is. Kind and generous, the sort of person who just makes you feel warm being near her. Connie Cao going from strength to strength. Lisa and Fiona of Diggers, laughing to tears! I have come home exhausted, but also with a heart absolutely full. It’s extraordinary to be able to look back at this community I find myself in. What a magnificent weekend with the greatest of thanks to the Horticultural Media Association of Australia. And Adelaide. What a city. So honoured and privileged to be there flying the flag for Gardenstead. A true honour to be a finalist in a room of extraordinary people. I can’t wait for the next Laurels. Two years away, and so many faces I now know that I just can’t wait to get back there. With the biggest of thanks to every single person tagged here. It was an absolute joy to meet you. X