London has the Chelsea Flower Show, Melbourne has the International Flower and Garden Show and, well, I guess Tasmania has Longford Blooms.
Driving through the agricultural township of Longford, in Tasmania’s north, you wouldn’t immediately suspect that it’s home to a hidden wealth of beautifully manicured gardens, a dozen or so of which open their doors every year to a steady stream of hundreds of visitors who come looking for inspiration, design ideas, rare plants, garden bric-a-brac and whatever the name of that plant they’ve just found in the owner’s garden is.
As a certified rare cottage plant hunter and someone whose lofty garden design ideas regularly exceed my budget, the event offers a reasonable mix of “attainable” gardens alongside a glimpse into how the other half live (although let’s be real, it’s a lot less than half these days). This year was the third time I’ve attended since 2020, and it’s something I pop into my calendar every year or two.
With an abundance of frothy roses, towering foxgloves, nodding aquilegias and manicured box hedges, the gardens themselves range from European formal to English cottage style, although I’ve yet to see any open gardens that lean more towards Australian native plants. Most of the gardens are within easy walking distance of each other provided you’re comfortable with a day on foot. There’s also an excellent selection of plant stalls set up across many of the gardens offering reasonably priced plants from specialised growers that you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else. Finally, and I don’t want to be inviting the wrath of the weather gods by saying this, but somehow, it seems to always be a sunny weekend.
I’d love it if there could be more events like this in some of Tasmania’s other small towns. It’s great for drawing visitors to places they may not otherwise take the time to explore (and besides, who can resist a free pass to have a nosy around in other people’s gardens? Not this little black duck I can assure you).
Longford Blooms is held annually on the third weekend of November. Ticket sales go live a few weeks prior or you can buy them on the day in the village green.
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