Indispensable me

23/10/2025

I’m so pleased to see this feature come to life, growing from outreach in my role as PR specialist for Open Gardens Victoria. It's always rewarding to help bring deeper stories about gardens and designers to light.

Thanks to Gabrielle Stannus (editor) and landscape designer Sam Cox, a great interview in the latest issue of HORT JOURNAL AUSTRALIA, offering thoughtful insight into naturalistic garden design, including a preview of Red Gums, a stunning garden opening this weekend with Open Gardens Victoria.

What resonated most for me were Sam’s reflections on why opening a garden to the public is such a powerful form of professional development for landscape designers.

Sam highlights the authenticity and differentiation that comes from inviting people into real spaces you've created. For emerging designers especially, it's a powerful way to stand out and gain recognition.

If you’re in Victoria, Red Gums is open this weekend (25-26 October). Don’t miss the chance to experience it in person.

Read the full interview in Hort Journal Australia, per link below.

✨ Why you should open your garden (and what you’ll learn from one that has!)

In my latest article for Hort Journal Australia, I speak with landscape designer Sam Cox Landscape, one of Australia’s leading voices in naturalistic garden design. 🌳

As Open Gardens Victoria celebrates its 10th anniversary, Sam shares his thoughts on why more landscape professionals should open their gardens, and offers practical tips on creating immersive, nature-connected spaces that feel truly Australian. 🇦🇺🌱

From towering red gums to sculptural rockwork that doubles as living mulch, Sam reminds us that good garden design is as much about experience as it is about aesthetics.

If you design gardens or simply love them, this one’s worth a read! 📖

👉 Read my article in the October issue of Hort Journal Australia:
https://hortjournal.com.au/

24/07/2025

Huge congratulations to Trentham, announced last night as the Top Tiny Tourism Town at the 2025 Victoria's Top Tourism Town Awards, hosted by the Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC).

This award celebrates towns with populations under 1,500 that deliver exceptional visitor experiences, and if you’ve ever wandered Trentham’s charming main street, dined at its local gems, walked its nature trails or been part of its community events, you’ll know this recognition is so well deserved.

Trentham holds a special place in my heart through my work as publicist for The Great Trentham Spudfest, an event that truly captures the town’s warmth, creativity and community spirit. It’s a joy to help share the stories of a place that gives so much to locals and visitors alike.

Here’s to the incredible people, businesses and community of Trentham who make it such a standout destination.

📷 credit Larissa Romensky

g

18/07/2025

This year, Open Gardens Victoria marks a decade of sharing some of Victoria’s most inspiring private gardens with the public.

Since 2015, over 300 gardens have opened their gates to more than 200,000 visitors, connecting people through a shared love of gardens, design, sustainability and community.

I’ve been lucky to be part of this journey for the past three years, helping to share the stories behind the gardens and the people who create them and open them. And to show that something as simple as opening a garden gate can inspire creativity, foster learning, and spark important conversations about sustainability and wellbeing.

Beyond the beauty, Open Gardens Victoria has directed over $200,000 in surplus funds to grassroots projects through its annual Giving Program, supporting seed libraries, pollinator programs, community gardens, education grants and more.

A decade on, this isn’t just about plants. It’s about people. And it’s been a privilege to help share the magic.

Huge congratulations to the incredible team of volunteers, past and present, and to the generous gardeners who’ve welcomed us in.

Here’s to another 10 years of connection, generosity and (literal) growth.

📷 2015 official launch at Musk Cottage, by Tim Entwisle. Photo by Annabel Reid.

04/10/2024

Next weekend Open Gardens Victoria, in partnership with the Friends of Edna Walling at Bickleigh Vale Village will open influential landscape designer Edna Walling’s Bickleigh Vale Village to commemorate 100 years since work commenced on her most enduring and acclaimed project.

Recognised by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) as a classified landscape and listed on Heritage Victoria's Victorian Heritage Register for its aesthetic, architectural, historical, and horticultural significance, eight of Bickleigh Vale’s gardens will open to the public on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 October 2024.

Thanks to Megan Backhouse and Justin McManus for this beautiful piece in today's The Age.

I encourage everyone to come and discover Edna's magical rambling village, cloaked in springtime green (the colour she felt was so important in the garden). Follow a secret path, discover the lovely old gates, carpets of spring bulbs, and wisteria-draped arbours—you won't be disappointed.

28/07/2024

Thanks Secret Melbourne for sharing this sneak peek! A bunch of fabulous spring openings with Open Gardens Victoria coming up.

Explore historic homesteads, passionately designed private gardens and more this spring with Open Gardens Victoria.

01/07/2024

Happy 13th!

This little business is now officially a teenager! Time flies when you are doing the stuff that you love and working with awesome people.

When I first registered the business name and started working on the how and the what, I never dreamed how much pleasure it would bring me, how much satisfaction being my own boss would provide, and how much I loved working from home in my PJs (long before the rest of you discovered WFH through necessity).

Woo hoo to Indispensable me (which is actually me)! So woo hoo to me, and thanks to all my awesome clients (past and present) who have shared the journey:

Open Gardens Victoria, The Great Trentham Spudfest, Little Hello Studio, Super Bloom, Australian Contemporary Opera Co., Maree McPherson, Tiger Tribe, FireWorks PR & Events, ThinkHatch Marketing & Communications, Adventure Awaits, 4 Little Reasons, Crocodile Creek Australia, Charlie's Fine Food Co, Dinosnores Sleep Stories- Relaxation for Kids - Sleep CD, gooie, Creative Clique, Candlelight Cottages, Glottogon, Avalon Retreats, Fashionista Depot, Alphabet Street, Carolyn Unwin Lifestyle

Such a pleasure!

08/05/2024

Happy 98th birthday dear David Attenborough.

What a man, what a legend.

21/04/2024

What's on my mind? Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

Only two weeks to go. And if you don't mind me saying, we are smashing the media for The Great Trentham Spudfest 2024 with a fabulous full pager in today's The Age.

Thanks Penny Stephens, photographer for the great photos of the Dunn Family.

Get amongst it folks, it's going to be awesome.

14/04/2024

As some of you might know, I've been doing a bit of media and PR for The Great Trentham Spudfest 2024 🥔.

It's just three weeks till kicks off (it's 16th iteration) across the first weekend in May and I am so excited. It's about potatoes and food, local produce, history and community and it's in the tiny township of Trentham, in autumn 🍂🍁. Folks you've got to get yourself along.

Saturday (Day 1), is Spudfest’s traditional carnival day, with four main precincts in town packed full of spud food, fresh regional produce, local artisan makers, live music, horse and cart rides, and loads of activities for kids and adults. You can also join a Trentham Historical Society-led bus tour of the old heritage-protected Spud Huts, dotted across the local landscape (though I think these tours might have already sold out).

Saturday evening is the inaugural Spudfest Cèilidh, a traditional celebration of Celtic music, food, and dancing, to mark the halfway point of the festival.

Sunday (Day 2) is dedicated to the discovery of food, produce, and region.

- Spudfeast, the opportunity to eat your way through spudtastic dishes in progressive dinner style at venues throughout the region, including The Cosmopolitan Hotel, Trentham General, Trentham Food & Wine Co. (takeaway), Daylesford Cider, AtErics Cafe Bar, the Blackwood Hotel, and many more.

- Four local farms will be conducting tours all day Sunday, inviting visitors behind the farm gate

- A self-guided Farm Gate Trail to unearth local growers’ fresh produce and hidden foodie secrets

- The Great Spud Scavenger Hunt

- Historical Society Tours of the Trentham Cemetery and town’s historic sites

- Behind-the-scenes tour of the Red Beard Historical Bakery

For all the deets, full program and tickets for tours: https://www.trenthamspudfest.org.au/

09/02/2024

🎉 Exciting news alert! 🎉 I am thrilled to announce that I will be managing public relations and media for The Great Trentham Spudfest 2024! 🥔🎉

For those who don't know, Spudfest is an annual event that celebrates the rich heritage, culture and produce of the region of Trentham, Victoria. 🌾🥔 The festival brings together local potato growers, artisans and food vendors to showcase their products and share their stories, with a mission to promote the community spirit and togetherness among the people of Trentham and beyond. 🥰

This year's event promises to be bigger and better than ever before! 🎉 So, mark your calendars and join us for a weekend of fun-filled activities, delicious food, and great company! 🎊

Who's coming?

And, if you want to learn more about the festival, check out the link below. 👀

You can find out more here: https://www.trenthamspudfest.org.au/

28/01/2024

What a blast working with Jac Semmler and Super Bloom in the lead up to Christmas last year.

One of the last media pick ups dropped today, with Jac's incredible garden shared over on the wonderful The Design Files.

Gorgeous photos by Sarah Pannell.

Jac Semmler's 400-square-metre garden has grown so much since we last visited, it's now spilling out onto the nature strip! See it here.

29/12/2023

A time to reflect on a wonderful, jam-packed year of Open Gardens Victoria adventures. Sharing the stories of 40 unique private garden openings across 18 different local council areas, from kickoff in early January 2023 on the Mornington Peninsula to our final openings in Macedon on 2 December. And all the awesomeness that was the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show 2023. What a joy!

A lovely way to close off 2023: Megan Backhouse's article in today's The Age provides a lovely reflection on some of the gardens we have opened this year and some gardens we will be opening in the early part of 2024. It places OGV as an organisation with a finger on the pulse of gardening trends, due in no small part to our amazing head of selectors, Louise Brown.

Bring on 2024!