Linden Gardens Autumn Leaves

Spring is a wonderful time to visit Linden Gardens, as the colour is just sensational as everything blooms progressively. Late October - early November is the best time to catch them at their absolute best. The three acre estate boasts many rare plants, Azalias, Camellias and in particular Rhododendrons, surrounded by the towering Mountain Ash of the National Park.

From 1936 to the early 70's, the property was known as 'Linden Gardens' a plant nursery covering the majority of the property's acreage. Its owners, Roberta (Bertie) and Michael Elliot, imported many of the plants from England and many of them would have been the first specimens of their kind in the Dandenongs. Apparently the cuttings from Linden were some of the first in The National Rhododendron Gardens. So renowned were the gardens that they scored a feature article in the   Rhododendron & Camellia Yearbook   of 1966. which is a good read if you have an interest in plants. We were lucky enough to track down an original copy of it from the Rhododendron Society in the UK that keeps a library of previous Yearbooks.

Since Michael Elliot passed away in 1971 and Bertie the year after, the gardens have continued to grow alongside natural growth, albeit in a rather more informal way than the Elliot's original plan for the gardens. You can still get a hint of the formal English Gardens that they created in their time at Linden however it would be hard for anyone to have had the passion and skill that they had to continue and maintain their good work in the following years.

When we purchased the property in February 2006 the gardens had become a bit overgrown and in need of some attention and fresh ideas. It was no coincidence that we came across Max and Rosemary Dower who run Mulberry Bush Farm in our search for gardeners to help bring Linden Gardens back to life. Max and Rosemary had previously owned Dowers Nursery in Sassafras (now Sassy Plants) and both them and their families have a history with the property which is remarkable. Max worked here as a boy and Rosemary's Father also worked here for a time until the early 80's (until his wife discovered it was a nudist colony).

Max and Rosemary have spent months pealing back the layers of ivy and holly to reveal the hidden rockeries and rare plants. It has been an exciting time for all of us, with every new area of the garden revealing something new of the history of the property and the Elliott's original garden. With Max and Rosemary's incredible knowledge of plants and overwhelming enthusiasm, we are now at the stage of replanting some areas that had been badly damaged by time and the ivy that plagues the hills.

It is a long term plan to bring the Gardens back to life as gradually time and money becomes available to work on it. We hope to create something unique and original and will just keep chipping away at it. Alex is a budding photographer and has documented in some beautiful pictures the species of plants and flowers in the gardens.