The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show - Updated for 2017 (30 March 2017)

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Table Floral Displays



One of my favourite sections to go-seek at the MIFGS is the table display competition that intermediate level students have the opportunity to design for.







There was much to admire in this year's offering.






















Simple but cohesive works well for me!


















I also loved the more whimsical and romantic displays.



















There were also a few on display that I personally thought to be train-wrecks. Just a little messy and impractical for my tastes.












Although, I liked this idea for a place mat.








Anything that includes natural elements always attracts my attention.























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More Student Displays




The Advanced florist students also have their own competition.






These are a bit too structured for me; but it is still nice to go see and admire.






















This was probably my favourite in this section.







Although this one came close to being my favourite as well!









































Sadly, I really don't see myself being inspired by very much in this section this year.



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Flower Grower's Alley



Every year, down the Flower Grower's Alley section of the building, we get to see the latest blooms and the colours that are in fashion. I think pink is back in fashion this year. Then again, has it ever been out of fashion?

I'll just let the flowers speak for themselves.















































The lotus flower is so stunning in any display.











With Easter around the corner, it was only natural that we would find touches of it here and there.

















One of the trends in the displays this year was texture.






Texture, texture....everywhere!











Texture and different vase holders were a feature down Flower Grower's Alley this year.










Did I mention that there was a distinct increase of Australian flora in this year's show?






About time too!
















I loved this idea!







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For Sale


Time to head outside!







There is a Disney link! Every year, they do put on a Children's garden exhibit. This year it was Fairies and pirate's theme.

















For a gold coin donation (that's Aussie slang for $1 or $2), kids could get face painted and/or colour in a picture.






DS has long outgrown this section. I always come in because I don't think I've outgrown this section.








So we headed towards things that were For Sale.






Pure advertising!








Pure sales!




























There is a vast array of garden things for sale. You could drop a fortune of money here if you really wanted to. My excuse for not spending is that I then have to work out how to get things home.....and I totally ignore the Free delivery signs. Instead, I come home with cards, collateral and lots of reading material.....I always justify the non-spend by saying that I can look at things at home and then order it when I'm ready.

Still, I always like looking for the growing ideas in the garden section of the show.





There is always lots of garden sculpture for sale. Way too expensive for me!

This was a couple of hundred dollars.






This was in the region of $600 - $700.







5-figures! Go figure.


















Not. at. any. price.






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Pink is IN....and more flowers






Pink was definitely the in-colour this year! Mostly every stand outside selling flowers had pink for sale.








































My barometer for how popular the colour is......I usually gauge the temperature by the number of bromeliads for sale that have the "in-colour". And pink was totally confirmed!

























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Achievable Gardens



Every year, I head into MIFGS with the aim of seeking garden design inspiration. There is always a section for landscapers to showcase their ideas for Achievable Gardens.






This year was no different. There were lots of ideas to take home and consider. These gardens usually focus on small spaces and I love that I can picture any one of these as my backyard.
























Vertical garden space was a major feature in these gardens. I liked the use of spouting and pallets to create additional growing space along the fence.











I also liked this idea for vertical plantings.






Such an edible space.







This was the one that I loved. I could totally see DH and I enjoying something like this in our backyard.















I want this lounger!







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Show Gardens



Time to showcase the Big Boys!

No garden show is complete without the top priced Show Gardens from the major landscapers.



























I thought this one was completely impractical. How on earth does anyone get to sit in those seats??









I love the idea of a bath out in the garden!






Quite a few of them had baths on display.












This was quite a clever garden. It used a lot of recycled material and that shipping container, which I figured would keep costs down.









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Show Food

No show is complete without food, right?







The sausage roll.







Fish and Chips.







Calamari rings.








Remember I said that I met some interstate friends at the show on Sunday? We started with breakfast at a nearby cafe. Breakfast was fantastic!













The French toast options were great. With bacon....






With berries....







Waffles!









I hope you enjoyed this year's show. I certainly did. Here's to next year!



princess::upsidedow
 
Very beautiful as usual. I would love for things to grow. Food looks really good, but in the middle of the night when doesn't food look good.:lmao:

Thanks for sharing..
 
That's one heck of a Show! All kinds of crazy ideas there! I don't think I've ever seen pictures of the whole show, just the few you have posted on your own thread. I loved the back yard landscapes. Although I thought their idea of "small spaces" was rather different than some of the small space we have here in the states!
 
2015 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show




Wow! Another year seems to have rolled right on by without us blinking....much. Where does the time go?


It's been a crazy year for me so far; and I had serious doubts about whether I'd be able to make it to the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show this year. Lucky for me, my DH prompted me to head to the show and we made some time on the last morning of the show to get in and check it out. It was a flying visit this year; but we made the most of our time.






We started in the Show Garden section. Ordinarily, we would have left this till later on in the day, when the crowds are hectic. So, we reversed our usual order, which worked out great for us. The crowds were low and we certainly didn't feel boxed in at all!







I liked the pendulum feature on the back-wall. But the rest of the garden is just too plain for me. There is not enough planting space for backyard vegies.







This space was more to my liking. I liked the checkerboard paving with groundcover thyme and other other spreading herbs. I could see myself stealing this idea and doing something similar in one section of my garden.






The cool blue/green colour palette was also very pleasing to my eye. More so....when mixed with fire and water.






For those that have a bigger spaces......here's what caught my eye this year.



















This zen garden was my favourite.







On reflection and sadly for me, the water part of this garden would just been too high maintenance for me.







The Northern Territory took out a space in the show this year.






Close your eyes and you could *almost* imagine you were at Kakadu.






But it was the other side of the garden that blew me away.






They brought in red sand to complete the illusion. And wonderful native desert plants.






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The Sustainable Small Garden is always a part of the show that I make a bee-line for. This year was no different. Again, hitting this section early in the morning turned out to be a winning strategy.







Both DH and I like this section because we can totally see elements of these sustainable gardens working in our backyard. We liked the dry riverbed section of this garden and the low stone wall to form seating areas with plenty of planting space behind.






We have cats! Can anyone spot why this garden appealed to us?






I think I would love a water feature like this with those wonderful leafy greens.







The 'sunken' nature of this garden also appealed to us. And then add in the vegetable plantings in the beds.....we both thought this was a cool garden.







Yup. Any garden in this area where there were tons of vegies planted attracted our attention.








I'm on the look-out for a water feature for my garden. I've always been attracted to this bamboo style feature. But in the last year, we've acquired a new Bengal cat. I spent some time admiring this water feature and came to the conclusion that this was a recipe for disaster with a Bengal. My cat would jump on the hurdle, collect and break the see-saw bamboo in the middle as she slipped off the hurdle to splat in the water receptacle. At least I can rule this one out now.







Despite being hidden....






I totally loved the concept of this water feature.








Some of the other ideas in this section of the show....




























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As always, the Great Hall of the Exhibition Gardens was resplendently dressed.






One of my favourite features of the show are the Flower Dresses. I literally ran round this year to capture as many as possible.



































































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Flowers, flowers....everywhere!






The professional florists were practically turning themselves upside down to show off their skills this year.











Interesting use of chicken wire! I did wonder if there was florist foam in there to keep the water level up for the flowers.






Highly impractical but I liked the more natural look of this display.






Interflora Florists usually put on a stunning show. I have to admit I was disappointed with their offering this year.






It just seems messy.







Some of the other displays....























Flower colour palette this year was firmly in the deep apricots range......






























.....and bright yellows.











Although....the Gallipolli Centenary Rose this year....







....was a wonderfully delicately scented deep blood red.






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There seemed to be less student work on display this year compared to previous years. All the works were found on the ground level. We usually expect to see the table settings upstairs; but they were all located on the ground level.






DH and I raced round the displays here as well to capture the ones that appealed to us.






This one reminded me of a backbone.






And I LOVED this one!






Driftwood was definitely over-used this year!




























Driftwood even pitched up at the table settings.


































But there were some that ignored the wood.....

































I sure hope that we move away from the driftwood next year!






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We couldn't resist checking on the things For Sale on the outside.






Lots and lots of colourful displays!













Orange might be the new black with the professional florists.....but on the outside, pink was totally in!





































Unusually, we did pick up a couple of items at the show this year.

I needed a doormat for outside the laundry door. We've converted that side of the house into a cat run this year; and we're using that door a little more than we normally do. This sisal mat completely sold itself to us.





We were also attracted by this 'toy'. The solar butterfly does round and round and round and flutters; almost like a real butterfly.






I'm hoping that it will last at least 1 week!







All in all.....another good showing this year.







Thanks for reading! Here's to next year.



princess::upsidedow
 

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