Story: Highlights of MIFGS The Show Gardens
Episode: 6
Presenter: Nigel Ruck
Air Date: 6th April 2024

Nigel takes us around the Melbourne International Flower Garden Show and highlights the show gardens.

• Held annually in autumn, MIFGS is the largest event of its kind in Australia attracts exhibitors and designers nationwide, showcasing talents in floral exhibitions, industry talks, food zones, and family-friendly workshops.
• This year, internationally acclaimed landscape designers headline the crowd-favourite show garden competition, with notable designers including newcomers from Sweden and Ireland, alongside returning designers from Japan.
• This year there, for a first, is an indigenous show garden in collaboration with the Wurundjeri Council which offers an immersive visitor experience.
• Nadia Cole's garden ‘Australian Idyll’ focuses on sustainability with Melbourne endemic coastal plants and repurposed materials, symbolising the emerging social construct of the "Australian Idyll" with low environmental impact features.
• Phillip Withers & Fiona Brockhoff's garden ‘SaltBush’ offers an immersive journey along the Victorian coastline, showcasing coexistence with nature, with features of recycled materials, indigenous plants, and balanced water treatment systems.
• Christian Jenkins' garden ‘Reflection’ continues the crafting of Wellness Gardens, providing visitors with an immersive sensory experience, and features towering Bottle Trees and Australian natives surrounding reflective water bodies.
• Annika Zetterman, Kajsa Bjorne & Simon Buchanan's garden ‘New Nordic Notes’ transcends geographical boundaries with a focus on design ethos and cultural identity, whilst emphasising storytelling to imbue gardens with meaning, functionality, and aesthetic appeal.