Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Melbourne International Garden and Flower Show 2009


It was10am last Saturday morning, I was sporting a mild hangover after a rather more raucous round of Friday night drinks. In an attempt to stave off the headache my housemate dragged me out of the house (minus sunglasses which were missing again) and hauled me to the 2009 Melbourne International Garden and Flower Show. It should be any gardening buff's pleasant dream, and really I should have been more excited. But the fact that my veins may still have been carrying pure champagne created a bit of a quieter mood.


But then the lovely Autumn morning hit and with some caffeine in my system I braved the crowds. It seemed to be mostly nannas and families and a few very crazy ladies. My favourite was the lady with a ruby cavalier by her side - in a pusher! It was her own little pride and joy and no walking for this little dear. My parents have a ruby cavalier king charles spaniel so I was smitten at first sight.


The garden show itself was interesting. It was very much flower orientated, as the name might suggest and I am more of a vegetable freak myself. Still I found some cool bird sculpture people and sent SMS pictures to my Mum who just loves all things ornathological. Given the state of me I got a little lost looking at the cut flower arrangements. Awesome Housemate's Friend came too, and she will be getting married at the end of the year. This gave us some extra impetus to seek out the most beautiful flowers and get some ideas. Personally I kept falling for the orange and red flowers of any kind, tulips, specialty roses, ornamental peppers, maybe I thought they may morph into a tequila sunrise and give me the extra energy boost I needed.


I didn't buy much. I almost purchased a cute pastel purple watering can with a floret (ours is an Ikea one so does not spray, it just looks cool, stainless steely, and stores well!) I also almost purchased some black and curly succulents. In the end all I purchased were some cut lillies which are pictured haphazardly throughout this post. At $2 a bunch you really couldn't go wrong and so many show goers seemed to have found this bargain. All in all this was a good morning, though by one o clock the crowds had descended, coinciding with the most hellish parts of the hangover so we made a hasty exit. Some nice exhibits, some interesting bulbs and things to purchase if you wanted to and one of the best coffees I have had in a while. Good to do once a year but glad it is not on as often as Friday night drinks!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you had a great time. I was feeling head achy just reading it though. The lilies were a steal. They're gorgeous.

Chandramouli S said...

Lucky you! those blooms look lovely.

Dan said...

Nice flowers. I have not been to a garden show in ages. I recall one year taking a bus tour to Canada Blooms, it was like a nursing home on wheels, won't make that mistake again!

To bad about the hangover. I find the older I get the more adulterants affect me the next day, a real shame really hehe.

PJ said...

Heheh I know you you mean Dan, i rue the day when one glass of champagne gives a hangover that lasts a day! until then ...

Bay Area Tendrils said...

Hi, great to read your post and get an insider's view. I also posted recently: pics of show gardens from years past at the Melbourne show. Hope to stay connected! Cheers, Alice