Breeder News

Susan Irvine contributed to saving many long-lost roses and also created some stunning rose gardens. Credit:Simon Griffiths Roses authority and author Susan Irvine died in Tasmania earlier this month. Born in Queensland in 1928, it was only after retiring as a teacher and headmistress in the early 1980s that Irvine devoted herself to horticulture, quickly establishing a reputation for her roses. The rosarian created a much-acclaimed garden and nursery at Bleak House in Malmsbury, then another garden in Gisborne, and yet another in northern Tasmania. Irvine was also pivotal in saving lost roses. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, she, with the help of nurseryman John Nieuwesteeg, embarked on a project to find and preserve the many Alister Clark roses that had been lost after the breeder’s death in 1949. Irvine described these roses, as well as her rose gardens and all manner of other rose-related matters, in a string of informative and engaging books, all of which espoused the wonder of the rose and helped readers choose from the array available. Anglesea shows its wildflower side Wildflowers and art are the main event at Anglesea this weekend, with ANGAIR hosting a two-day program of flower displays, guided walks, indigenous plant sales and an art show. The Eden Project will mount a display outlining the new landscape proposed for the now-closed Alcoa mine site. The weekend runs from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22, the Community Precinct, McMillan Street, Anglesea. Open garden in Melbourne’s inner-west A Footscray garden filled with more than 50 fruiting trees, shrubs and vines as well as an abundance of purely ornamental offerings is open Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22. It is at 16 Central Avenue and is open from 10am to 4.30pm, with a 20-minute talk on fig grafting at 11am on both days, $8 entry. Go to opengardensvictoria.org.au for more information.

Source: www.theage.com.au