10am - 5pm
14th - 15th March 2009
Meet more than 40 specialist growers
Unique range of new, rare and unusual plants
Enjoy expert plant talks & demonstrations
Entertainment
Information detailed on this page relates to the 2008 Gardening and Rare Plants Expo. Information for the 2009 Gardening and Rare Plants Expo to be added in the future.
Set in the beautiful Tesselaar Gardens, a range of entertainment is available throughout the weekend.
Total Fire Band will fill the garden with music throughout the weekend. The unusual line-up of clarinet, banjo and sousaphone create wonderful music to sit back and enjoy.
Available throughout the weekend is a carefully selected variety of locally produced food. The Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley area is famed for its culinary delights and this weekend is no exception. There is plenty of lawn areas around the grounds for relaxing and eating. Whether you bring a picnic or purchase some of the delicious food, the Tesselaar Gardens is beautifully landscaped so you can just sit and enjoy good food, good company and great surrounds.
The Sorghum Maze is a new feature of the Tesselaar Gardens which has been designed especially for this weekend. Sorghum is a green crop planted as part of our Soil Management program. The sorghum returns organic matter to the soil . This maze is great fun for kids big and small and FREE to participate. Will you find your way out?
Magical Fairy garden for young and old:
There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't prove that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies?”.
Richard Dawkins
A place of wonder, it is a magical area to explore and enjoy. The Fairy Garden was developed as an example of a shade garden and contains some excellent examples of species well adapted to shady conditions, as well as providing a home to a number of gnomes and fairies.
The Music Garden is a new addition to the Tesselaar Gardens. Five tulips stand tall and proud as sculptural instruments. Children can spend hours creating tunes. This interactive activity is very entertaining.
The Gnome Hunt. Seven Tulip gnomes have escaped from Fairy Hollow and have been spotted hiding throughout the garden. Help us find all the gnomes and discover their names and you will be rewarded with a lovely treat.
The Tesselaar Perennial trial garden was developed in 1995, to provide both an aesthetic addition to our farm, as well a useful learning tool for both our staff and visitors.
The gardens are used to test and trial plants for the Tesselaar catalogue to ensure they are garden worthy and garden hardy. Each year the beds are re-planted with new trial material and seasonally planted with flowering bulbs for the spring, summer and autumn. The garden also contains permanent plants to provide structure and interest.
The Trial garden has become an inspiration for staff and visitors and is a very popular, and relaxing lunch spot.
The Tesselaar Gardens have a historical overlay associated with the significant history of the gardens. The Gardens are home to some very significant trees including Copper Beech, Liriodendron and Japanese Weeping Cherry which are each over 60 years old.
Tesselaar are continually adding and refining new elements of the garden. There are various artistic and sculptural fundamentals which append interest and colour.
Some of the feature plants in our garden include: a range of Roses, Liliums, Salvia, Grass Sp., Perennial Geraniums, Clematis, Euphorbia, Sedums, Daylilies, Phormiums and Nepeta to name just a few. In February we look forward to Roses and Liliums as a fragrant highlight.