wedreamofgardens

24/04/2026

Mount Kinabalu Park, World Heritage Site - Sabah
On this day last year, 25.04.25, I was lucky enough to go for a walk in the rainforest of Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Borneo.

A welcome relief to be in the cool mountain air and be in the natural rainforest with space to walk and wonder, after a few hectic days travelling in the hot humidity of Malaysia.

It was very exciting to see the native plants of Sabah up close, some familiar but many not. Especially exciting to see Medinilla growing naturally in the forest! I'm sure many plant nerds can relate... I first spotted the flowers as we were driving through the Crocker Range mountains, thinking that looks familiar, surely not, I wanted to stop but family not sharing same excitement... So was very happy to see them up close.

I didn't have time to post last year, but when my memories showed up this morning I thought why not share them as the plants were beautiful and interesting 🤔

The region also has a dark history in relation to ANZAC day, here's an excerpt from Google:

"Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, holds profound, tragic ANZAC history linked to the WWII Sandakan Death Marches (1945), where Australian and British POWs were forced through the surrounding treacherous mountain jungle. Over 2,700 Allied prisoners died in brutal conditions, with only six Australians surviving by escaping with local hep."

04/04/2026

Designing Enclosure at MIFGS 2026
From pergolas to layered planting, this year’s designer show gardens at explored how vertical and overhead elements can create a powerful sense of enclosure.

Whether through sculptural trees, open pergola's, arched gateways, or immersive garden rooms, each space invited us to pause, reflect, and reconnect with nature.
Vertical and overhead elements create spatial enclosure, a design strategy that taps into our innate desire for comfort and protection.

Swipe through to see how enclosure was expressed — beautiful materials, plants and even festoon lights can provide a sense of being in a room and safety in a large outdoor space.

Gardens and features in order of appearance:
1. Rustic pergola and bold tropical planting by
2. Silver Birch trained into a living pergola by
3. Large Xanthorrea glauca, tree ferns and topography enclose living spaces by .consultants
4. Painted timber pergola, living curtains created by hanging Dichondra Silver Falls, large planters with Crepe Myrtle Nachez and mass planted Bay trees create border screening in Love Blooms Here by and
5. Arch entry, large Maples and border planting frame the space in Echoes of the Ancient Silk Road by Ikftikhar Ahmed

📸

29/03/2026

LDI Designer Walks MIFGS 2026
Inside the fence and minds of the designers was an enjoyable privilege.
Thanks to all designers for their time and tour guides Andrew Munro and

10/12/2025

14/10/2025

🌿 A proud moment behind the scenes 🌿
Last month (can't believe it's been that long!) I had the joy of helping organise the National Landscape Design Awards as a volunteer Director for the Landscape Design Institute (). What a day!

It was so inspiring to be in the room with so many of Australia’s leading landscape designers and architects - celebrating creativity, collaboration, and the power of great design.

I’m incredibly proud to have been part of the committee that brought this event and awards competition to life. The energy, the conversations, the recognition - it reminded me why we do what we do.

Swipe through for a few glimpses from the day, including some familiar faces and a few behind-the-scenes smiles.

Fabulous Photography by:

Thanks to the presenters for setting the tone for a fun and welcome room: Adam Tim Ross

Awards committee legends: Andrew Munro , Mary , Tania , Libby , Mira & Alicia , Prue , Jennifer Stone, Sandhya , Kate Ashton 👏

17/08/2025

Sunny Winter Wild Walk
So many beautiful, sculptural and artistic flowers and things to see on our walk on the lovely Centre Track today.
Reminders of the rich indigenous heritage too.
Always amazing to see these plants growing in unlikely places and what grows well in wet, sandy, rocky places. The red spider Grevillea speciosa loves the wet spots.
Sunday soul food

serrulata speciosa buxifolia

03/08/2025

Sunny Melbourne in winter
A quick dash to Melbourne but time to admire and find inspiration walking the streets of Middle Park and surrounds.

Huge street trees along wide streets with planted verges, cobblestones, cute ornate houses, some with beautiful native gardens instead of the traditional formal ones, sculptural White Cedar trees yellow seeds against blue skies, cute puppies and starlings and an incredible florist with a fresh shipment of stunning natives etc.

Looking forward to my next visit and seeing the change in seasons.

01/06/2025

Happy 1st day of winter and anniversary bush walk (29 years!)

Picking up tips from nature. Need to find out the species which is creating a gorgeous green carpet in the wet areas, assuming it's an Isolepis, Ficinia or Carex...

The water in the small pools was soo clear we could barely see it, only from trickles and a spot of foam.

Enjoy the fresh crisp winter days 🌞 💕

07/05/2025

Still processing the ALC, 'seeing' and 'being' on my travels...

06/11/2024

LDI North Coast Tour Day 2:
The 2nd day of the LDI Coastal Garden Tour was so inspiring and informative.
To start the day Landscape Architect, Paul Appleton of .workshop took us through the details of two of his projects along with a presentation, it was so interesting to hear the design process and then to visit each garden in person was amazing! The projects we visited were all very different to each other:

The first being a holiday home behind the sand dune at Brighton Beach (photo's 5-8).

The second an estate which Paul was engaged in the very early stages of concept design for the property, now called Copperstone by The Range Estates (photo's 9-10).

The third was a large property on the escarpment overlooking the coast at Newrybar (photo's 1-4). Grant Boyle of and his team have been working closely with the clients for a number of years to develop an inspiring collection of mostly native plants which are suited to the exposed site. One of the recent developments is an eclectic productive garden with a stunning reclaimed brick circular paved area with unusually shaped gardens created with corten steel, an exciting result.

This was a supurb day spent learning from our fabulous designer hosts as well fellow designers and garden enthusiasts. A big thanks to members for organising the tour.

Designers:
Paul & Dee Appleton .workshop
Grant Boyle

LDI’s Qld Events Committee:
Kate Hewish
Eva Porter .designs
Andrew Munro