Oh, dear Diggers Gardens, how I love thee. This love may possibly be enhanced by the first visit after being Locked Down. But really, I loved you before lock down.

There are three Diggers Gardens in Victoria and one in South Australia. Heronswood is situated at Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula. In between lock downs I managed to get to Olinda to see the Cloudehill Garden in Autumn (which I’ve just realised I’m a bad blogger because I haven’t shared the photos!) . My favourite is Garden of St Erth and that will be next on my list to revisit on my way to Ballarat for the Ballarat International Foto Biennale which has thankfully been extended until Jan 2022 due to the Lockdowns. Speaking of photos and gardens, the middle of a bright sunny day is the worst time for photos, but getting out in the real world after lock down takes a bit of getting used to so it was midday before we got there. I decided to go for the harsh light challenge and see what I could come up with. I used the standard kit lens on the Fuji XT-2 and tried to show a bit more of the gardens and surroundings as opposed to my usual macro shots. A few shots needed a little bit of a lift of shadows in Lightoom but that’s the benefit of shooting RAW files.

I hadn’t seen a body of water other than the murky brown Yarra for ages, so the startling blue of the bay as a backdrop to the gardens was nourishing for the soul.

Apart from the gorgeous gardens there’s a cafe and a plant nursery. And the beautiful Historic Heronswood House is the anchor for the expansive gardens

You can learn a bit more and see a video from Gardening Australia

I have grand dreams of running a photography workshop in the great teaching spaces they have, either here or at St Erths.

I’m working on a book at the moment so once it’s finished, and good ol’ covid stops locking us down, I’ll be able to share the love of photographing flora.

Just a quick window selfie after checking out the conference room.

I spotted this little blue beauty just swaying in the breeze. I’ve never seen a colour like it. It looks like a white flower that’s been placed in a cup of water with blue dye. I have no idea what the flower is either so if you know, please leave me a comment below and let me know.

Gotta love it when the ladies co-ordinate their outfits to match the gardens.

There’s no right time to go check out the gardens. Go anytime. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by.
Deb

With my big brother Stew in Melbourne for a week, we did a garden visiting blitz. I'm now a member of Diggers club and we went to all three of the Victorian Diggers Gardens. Starting with Heronswood, in Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula. I was greeted with a swathe of my favourite flowers, Cosmos, before we even got in the gate. It just got better and better after that. Starting with a great nursery and shop and leading into the fabulous grounds and then onto the veggie patch. If you've never been it's well worth putting on your list of places to go. We spent so much time in the garden we missed the cafe but the views over the bay are enough to tempt me back. Not to mention the endless photo opportunities. They even have a training room so I might look into the possibility of running a photography workshop there. Let me know if you might be interested.