More than meets the eye WARNERS NURSERIES THE AVENUE: SILVER BIRCH HYD SF: PERSICARIA LIGULARIA AJUGA
“When just looking at a garden the benefits are not always immediately apparent. It is when you immerse yourself and become involved that the real benefits of a beautifully designed garden are revealed. This garden invites you to explore its rooms, take time to discover its subtleties, immerse your senses, and discover ‘More than meets the eye.’” - Robert Boyle The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show has always held a special place at Warner’s Nurseries. The story begins in 1925, at the inaugural Melbourne Garden Week, when William Richard Warner (known as W.R.) exhibited with the aim “to further the love of horticulture in the community.” Warners’ continued involvement with MIFGS remains unchanged in the desire to foster the love of the garden. When Warners was presented with the opportunity to design a garden for the ‘Best of the Best’ at the Garden Show in 2020, there was no question that we would be involved.
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Bringing together Warner’s Nurseries and Robert Boyle to design a show garden celebrates a fifty-year relationship between the two in creating spaces of wellbeing and enjoyment for numerous families. It represents the Warner’s story, contributing to the greening of Victoria, of promoting the importance of gardens and why plants are an essential part of human existence. Rudyard Kipling wrote in 1911 “the glory of the garden lies in more than meets the eye”.
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When the Warners show garden was originally conceived, we knew that it had to be an ode to plants. It had to honour the generosity and beauty that plants bring to the landscape. With plants, a garden breathes. It grows and evolves. It changes, just like we do. But it is also a nod to the significance of the connections that are created through plants. This garden reflects the power of plants to bring people together to create something more than a beautiful landscape. We were honoured this year to receive a Gold Medal, and the HMA Award for Best Use of Plants. But perhaps our greatest privilege was to receive the People’s Choice Award, and the acknowledgement that our customers’ customers also know what we know – that it is plants, that make a garden. What is achieved each year at Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show is what we try to achieve at Warners every day. Our goal is to work alongside our customers, our partners and our collaborators to create not only beautiful landscapes, but a united industry, a passionate workforce, and a spirit of innovation that will continue to inspire for years to come.
The Garden Robert Boyle’s garden design represents unity, with six distinct zones coming together as one. The uniting element between the gardens are the plants – each variety is typical of a traditional Warners garden, but when combined in new and interesting ways, tells a story of contemporary landscaping design with the plants as the hero. The gardens are linked by the bay hedge – the green spine of the garden - providing a backdrop and screening our view to gradually reveal four main gardens; a Traditional Parkland, Mediterranean, a shaded Urban Woodland and an Edible Garden with each area highlighting a distinctive look and feel with its diversity of plantings. The Arbour provides the perfect backdrop to view along the Avenue to the spire of the majestic Exhibition building. WOODLAND GARDEN: GINKGO LIGULARIA HEUCHERA ANENOME
