Garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

About 30 years ago, I joined a group set up by an inspirational local gardener to nurture the love of gardening and to share knowledge and plants amongst its members. The group still meets, and I have been reflecting recently on the value of garden groups and clubs, and what they can offer to gardeners.

Roses and perennials in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Roses and perennials in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Gardening on one's own of course confers many benefits, which I have written about before - such as the opportunity to ground ourselves in the sensory experiences that abound in a garden; the chance to do some physical exercise with a purpose; gaining exposure to vitamin D by being outside; having contact with feel-good bacteria in the soil; being in touch with the rhythms of the natural world; and having the excitement of seeing plants grow, and of planning for and looking forward to changes in our garden. Simply being outside in nature improves our physical and psychological health, with around two hours a week being touted as the minimum time needed for these enigmatic effects to be felt. Human beings seem to have a fundamental need to be in touch with the natural world, and we gardeners know this already!

Louisiana irises and calla lilies in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Louisiana irises and calla lilies in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Joining a garden group or club, however, adds even more to the good that gardening provides. Such groups or clubs often visit gardens - their own members' ones or other people's - as part of their programs. Every garden I visit brings pleasure, delight and, most especially, awe, an emotion of wonder that itself has documented positive effects of our wellbeing. I am so often in awe of how a gardener puts plants together in new ways, how they use space in their garden, and how well they grow plants that I struggle with.

Large bromeliad and salvias in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Large bromeliad and salvias in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Last week we visited the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney and our united response upon seeing it was simply 'Wow!'. It is one of the most quintessential Sydney cottage gardens I have seen, and what she grows in it, so superbly, with an artist's eye for colour, form and texture, simply takes one's breath away. At the moment, roses are the stars: climbing forms scramble on archways whilst billowing shrub roses are smothered in hundreds of fragrant blooms. The right choice of cultivars for Sydney's climate means they are all thriving. Incredibly tall Delphinium and Digiplexis tower above cottage garden favourites that do well in Sydney, such as Lychnis, species Geranium, Alstroemeria hybrids, wallflowers and Aquilegia. Innumerable Salvia offer more spires throughout the garden in a rainbow of hues, mixing in well with the traditional cottagey flowers, and huge clumps of Nicotiana alata, with trumpets of white, green and burgundy form a backdrop to lower plantings. Some lofty, almost shrub-like Cleome hassleriana that lived on from last summer were in bloom, causing me to do a double-take and to plan to try to achieve the same thing myself. The lush growth of all the plants in the garden is stunning and is attributed in part by Maree to the application of rock minerals on the soil. I immediately vowed to buy a tonne of this stuff!

Fuchsia Swingtime with Thunbergia natalensis and Hydrangea in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Fuchsia Swingtime with Thunbergia natalensis and Hydrangea in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

In shadier spots, various sorts of Hydrangea are budding up, including the lovely oak-leaf type, and species and hybrid Fuchsia sport their pendulous blooms (including a spectacular Fuchsia boliviana), along with cane and rhizomatous Begonia in bloom, and blankets of the pretty silvery-leaved groundcover Lamium maculatum spill over paths. In a low-lying part of the garden, moisture-loving Lousiana Iris were in full bloom, with their strappy leaves offering a foliage contrast, along with Canna and calla lilies. Large bromeliads here and there also gave a contrast of form.

Not only does the experience of awe make us individually feel good, but the experience of sharing awe has been shown to bring people closer together, as does simply sharing time with others in the very presence of nature. Social connection has been shown to be one of the most fundamental pillars of human happiness, providing a feeling of belonging and social support, so garden visiting with a group of friends must surely rate highly on the social bonding scale!

Lamium maculatum carpets the ground in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Lamium maculatum carpets the ground in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Another great aspect of visiting gardens is the possibility of receiving a cutting or two of plants we lust after, especially as so many beautiful plants simply aren't available in nurseries these days, and are only kept in circulation by being handed on from gardener to gardener as cuttings. Many of the plants in Maree's garden were grown from cuttings from others in the group, and she very generously handed out bits of plants to us during our visit, What a joy it is to go home with some treasured pieces to try to strike, and, with luck, to be able to plant in our own gardens. As a bonus, these plants will always remind us of the person who gave us the cuttings, further strengthening the social ties that gardening provides.

Shared gardening knowledge is also a wonderful aspect of being with other gardeners: we learn about new plants, novel planting combinations and ways of using plants, gardening techniques, garden tools, nurseries and open gardens to visit. The body of knowledge that a group or club accumulates over time can be handed on to younger gardeners, such as I once was all those years ago.