HERONSWOOD blooms brighter than ever! A
ustralia’s most remarkable gardening organisation is right here on the Peninsula and its garden home has just had a rare redesign. 2020 lockdowns saw people all over the world turning to their gardens and reconnecting with nature like never before. From absolute beginners who decided to start on the road to self sufficiency, through to seasoned gardeners who got stuck into big projects and really relied on the sanctuary their gardens provide. Even one of the Peninsula’s most famous gardens got a bit more attention and has emerged from lockdowns really blooming. Heronswood House and Garden in Dromana is the home of the Diggers Club – Australia’s most remarkable gardening organisation. The Diggers Club was established in 1978 by Clive and Penny
E ssence
16 | PENINSULA
February 2021
Blazey as a small mailorder seed operation with the aim of providing Australian gardeners with access to rare and unusual seed varieties. In the 1980’s the Blazeys bought the historic Heronswood House (circa 1864) as their family home and set about trialling plants for Australian conditions and creating a display garden of the plants their Club was keeping in circulation. The very first certified organic public garden, Heronswood is today a living catalogue of the plants and seeds that Diggers has championed and preserved. The Club now has over 80,000 members Australia-wide and the public gardens became so popular that the mailorder operation had to move to a separate site (also in Dromana). Diggers.com.au and the nursery onsite at Heronswood, offer more than 500 different varieties of heirloom seeds and thousands of rare and unusual plants. The Club continues to educate the public on