Seasons on the Mountain springtime event opened three large Tamborine Mountain gardens to the public. The event was over three days this weekend with two of the gardens in the heart of the North Tamborine village.
Even in the rain, the gardens were inspirational.
Ron Gordon, President of the Tamborine Mountain Garden Club, was philosophical about the weather saying, "We have been very lucky with the weather over the past few years.
The rain is good for the gardens and good for everyone's tanks as well".
Ron and Monica Gordon are pictured in the grounds of Trellaurel well prepared for the weather. Umbrellas were sprouting like spring weeds in the gardens and as a species, umbrellas were in unusually fine bloom this weekend.
Event organizer, Margaret Bell said, "It's good that we have had three events this year in the "Season of the Mountain". The poor weather this weekend will have less of a financial impact than it would have had if we were relying on just this one weekend as our only fund raiser".
The open days are the primary funding for the Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens.
"We are also fortunate that the Scenic Rim Regional Council has contributed $50,000 to the Botanic Gardens this year.
It has allowed us to move forward on a number plans like the pavilion and to be less dependent on single events like the Seasons on the Mountain".
Both Ron Gordon and Margaret Bell were quick to thank the many volunteers for their splendid efforts over the three day event. But a special thanks must go to the owners of the three unique Tamborine Mountain gardens on display this springtime.
Vistas on Slingsby Road Mt Tamborine - True to its name
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| A 360 panorama of "Vistas" - you can see the same tree at both sides of the photo |
The misty rain had settled in when we visited the expansive lawns and gardens that make up Vistas. By the time we had arrived at midday on Sunday, the road verges were somewhat muddy and the rain was light but persistent. I am glad we continued on into Vistas for several reasons, not the least was that this was the first time this informal rural garden has been on public display.
The next reason is that Vistas actually looks magnificent in this kind of weather, as strange as that might sound.
The mist made the distant forests landscapes seem eerie and mysterious.
The huge scale of Vistas was enhanced by this increase in perspective.
The final reason is that we met a group of botanical painters who were exhibiting in the tool shed attached to the property and
their works were detailed, accurate and colourful. Just the kind of unexpected pleasure that makes a trip memorable.
The Botanical Artists Group is part of the Tamborine Mountain Creative Arts Centre.
Pictured are Elizabeth Russell, Pat Stockwell and Susan McGowan who were showcasing the talent of this growing group of artists who are recording botanically accurate art of the plants of Australia.
The group now has twelve active members and meets on the second and fourth Thursday of the month between 9 and 12 at the Heritage Centre on Wongawallan Road.
The flower beds at Vistas are extensive, forming frames that lead the eye to the distance (see photo to the left).
At the entrance, beautiful flower beds were just putting out their first batch of spring flowers.
There were stunning red roses and yellow blooms on display. The rain actually freshened the roses making for delicate photographs that looked as if the morning dew had not yet evaporated.
The plantings in the upper gardens at Vista are young and in their first flush. The juvenile trees are widely spaced in the lawn areas giving them a great deal of room to grow as they mature and their branches spread.
The owners have also planned the built environment cleverly with a series of pathways and pavilions for enjoying the garden on warm summer days. The open nature of the garden will make it delightful to enjoy the sunshine on clear winters days as well.
Sculptural features dot the grounds and patinas will develop to fully blend them into this graceful, thoughtful open garden.
Trellaurel - The Gardener's Garden
When you approach the gates of Trellaurel for the first time, you see a neat cottage with some interesting free-form cottage garden beds overflowing with vibrant colours. 
You become deeply intregued as you walk around the house, eventually spiralling outwards through the many walkways and zones in this magnificent Tamborine Mountain garden.
At each turn there is something new. This must be one of the prettiest cottage gardens and even the rain could not dampen the beauty at all.
In fact, the rain falling on mature flowers, forming droplets on the leaves and the petals were particularly appealing in the photographs that appear with this article. Huge red poppies were just in bloom is some beds and coiling in preparation in others.
The olive green foliage of the poppy plants offset the vibrant colour of poppies blooms. In fact, a deep understanding of seasonal colour and texture seems to be a feature of this highly sophisticated garden.
Once again the Garden Club had prepared a stall for selling cuttings, seedlings and bulbs to visitors. It was a cold day for the two volunteers who were rugged up in wet weather gear more suited to a North Atlantic fishing trawler than a Tamborine Mountain springtime.
Trellaurel also was on display in the Winter Seasons on the Mountain. Colour contrast was easier in winter with more bare earth and rock faces to offset the colours. In the explosion of green in the spring, such a balance of colours was harder to achieve.
The gardeners used a variety of foliage colours to achieve a balance with the lush greenness of many of the shrubs and perennials. Here the wisdom of several beds with grey green succulents to balance the vibrant green spring flushes become evident. The more one looks in Trellaurel, the more there is to see.
Glenloch - Avenues in Pin Oaks and Lavender
Just five years ago it was open paddocks of lush pasture. Now it is formal garden showing French, Japanese and English influences that combine into a uniquely Australian experience.
Yuulong Street looks like just about any street in any rural Australian village. Nothing prepares the visitor for what awaits at the end of Yuulong Street and beyond the gates of Glenloch. 
Perhaps the brass name plaque gives some hint of what lies further down the sheltered valley but even the first few meters into the property are unremarkable.
Glenloch is built on a west facing block of seven acres and consists of two cottages and extensive gardens with several pools, fountains and covered walkways.
Recently the owners have added another seven terraces to punctuate the landscape and build in sheltered areas for both plants and people.
Dark red volcanic rocks form the terraces in good Tamborine Mountain style. Rustic. Solid. Seeming to grow out of the ground as much as imposed upon it.
The terraces have been softened by plantings of flowering ground cover that spill over the terrace edges, highlighting and beautifying the structures.
The lower parts of the garden, those nearest the main residence, are formed around a series of waterways. 
These cascade through the sloped gardens, over small waterfalls and into creek beds that have distinct Japanese simplicity about their form.
Finally they flow into an English style pond with its natural softness and complexity of plantings that simulate a natural forest pond. 
There were many visitors to Glenloch who spent an hour or more admiring the formal precision of the gardens and especially an avenue of semi mature Pin Oaks with a beautiful understory of Italian Lavender.
The lavender, which curiously come from the mint family (Lamiaceae), are found throughout the Mediterranean region, where they are native, down into Africa and even into southern reaches of India.
Its beautiful metallic silver foliage and the way its purple flowers will attract and display every bee and butterfly in the neighborhood. Laveder is a visually breathtaking addition to any garden.
From a garden design perspective, it is a superb plant for Tamborine Mountain gardens, thriving in hot climates with an ability to withstand occasional drought conditions once fully established.
Deborah and Gary Partridge were two of the visitors to Glenloch on Sunday. They have had a property on Tamborine Mountain for many years whilst they live and work on the Gold Coast.
For them, the Glenloch garden was a symbol of all the things they have come to love about Tamborine Mountain.
It's eclectic rural nature. And the extraordinary people who chose to make their home here on Tamborine Mountain.
The passion that the residents of this beautiful part of Australia put into maintaining and improving on the extraordinary natural beauty that they have found here. It is a way of life that many who can only visit may envy just a little and those of who live here, will put all our efforts into preserving.
Many who came to visit Glenloch on this wet and clammy Sunday looked over seven acres of beautiful parkland and marvelled that the two people who own Glenloch could have the energy and dedication to bring this garden into being in just five years.
Helped I guess, by the deep red, fertile Tamborine Mountain soil and by the community of fine gardeners who live here.
In Glenloch they have created something that will grow ever more beautiful as it matures, and in years to come all who are privileged enough to see it will be a marvel at this formal and gracious garden . . . as we did, rain or no rain.
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