If you are making a special trip you are welcome to visit our garden on that weekend.
Ian

Thanks Ian - are you anywhere near Sunnybank ? I'm afraid I'll be restricted to public transport, so it may not be feasible to visit both. You can email me direct at:

artiew99@yahoo.com.au

Ta,

Artie

I have never been. Have seen it on TV and in mags. I believe it's a wonderful tropical garden but that it gets terribly crowded on open days - a mark of its popularity, I suppose.

Yes - a wonderful place and well worth the long queue to get in. I always come away with a dozen new ideas and Dennis is very approachable.

Highly recommended

Thanks everyone - I intend being on his doorstep as soon as it opens : hopefully, this will cut down on my time in the queue.

I am always somewhat surprised when I see large numbers of people at open gardens, GA Live etc, then drive home past houses that look like they have a 'lawn-only' occupant in charge of the yard. I have to remind myself that dreams are free - how many Ferraris have you seen leaving the Motor Show ? :)

My Aunt is flying down from Cairns for it. I'm supposed to be in charge of finding her some good, reasonably-priced accomodation within walking distance of the garden, preferably with meals available onsite (or once again, within walking distance. Is there anyone who knows the area and can recommend anywhere?

Wish I could be there again this year.I know those seeing it for the first time will really enjoy it. Dennis loves his plants and it shows. If you want to dodge the huge queues you may be best to go on the Friday.

Hi Liatris,

I cant personally recommend a B&B/motel in Sunnybank from experience, but its a a very populous (and very residential area) part of Brisbane. I'm afraid the Yellow Pages only returned one hit for B&Bs, and that was in Sunnybank Hills, a different suburb. I'd suggest that you spend some time with Google etc - its surprising what you can find if you phrase your query properly.

Cheers,

Artie

Late February....would that be 24-26? Might just happen to be down there around then.
Cheers
Rose

Yes Rose it is also open on Friday the 24th as tamoure said above.
I have added the Link for it...cheers..MM.

Here is a link that might be useful: Open Garden

Today's Sunday Mail featured the 'other' tropical garden in Brissie, Suan Suan at Bray Park - sadly, their open day isnt until March. Whilst this is a smaller garden than Dennis', I've always been impressed with the Balinese feel it exhibits in various photo spreads : its one of those gardens that you cant get enough of.

Thanks MM....we'll see if it fits in.
Rose

What's this about THE other Tropical garden in Brisbane. There is more than two, and they do not have to have a Balinese feel or have palms to make the garden Tropical.
With our garden we do not have any ornaments and few palms yet we have over 50 different varietys of Heliconias, every Ginger we can lay our hands on and nearly 40 different Costus. Not to mention 1000s of broms, caladiums, calatheas ect ect ect. Our canopy is not provided by palms but by tropical fruit trees such as Lychees, longans, mangos, sapodilla, wax jambu ect ect.
I dont doubt Dennis Hundscheidts garden is terrific and will be going to see it this year but dont forget he does landscaping/gardening for a living.
My wife and I are 'weekend warriors' as we both work full time so every spare minute is spent in the garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Garden Album

Hi Ian,

No disrespect intended in my comment re the 'other' tropical garden - its simply a reflection of the media focus on these two Brissie gardens whenever they need a few 'tropical' pics. Like you, I am also a weekend warrior - unlike you, I dont have the dedication needed to spend so much time on such a (comparatively) large parcel of land. Your garden is a credit to you, but I do like Dennis' gardening philosophy. In 'A Garden of My Own', he lays out some strong guidelines for wayward souls like myself:

- restrict your palette to a small number of species and repeat them in groups of 5, 7 or 9 throughout the garden
- discipline oneself to the above, avoiding the urge to collect one of everything
- a garden isnt a botanical collection

As my previous garden was a 'one of everything' collection, I've made a conscious effort to mend my ways with the current block. The danger lies in predictability (in my case, how many beds of palms+lillypillies+cordylines+ferns can you look at before it all becomes a bit tedious ?), but injecting a couple of philodendrons/broms/cycads into the mix seems to do the trick. 'Window dressing' with Gardenia, Ixora and Cuphea is pretty low on my priorities at the moment, but repeating these simple plantings in each new bed seems to tie it all together a lot more effectively than I've done previously. I'm sure that my next garden will benefit further from the mistakes that I'm making with this one, but seeing my old garden begin to mature has really been a bittersweet experience, as its pretty clear that I learnt as I planted - no overall plan at all.

I also take the point that Dennis does this for a living, but thats no guarantee of good design. I'm sure we've all seen professional landscaping that contained no hint of originality or imagination (admittedly, budget and site considerations may be a factor in a lot of public landscaping), and I think we all know the adage about mechanic's cars ....

Ultimately, I think the weekend warrior has an advantage over the professional - motivation. When that starts to falter, its probably time to sell the house and start all over again :)

Cheers,

Artie

Many of the tropical plants in Dennis HundscheidtÂs Subtropical Garden will be featured in displays and for sale at the:

The Tropical Affair - Brisbane - Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens Auditorium
Saturday 28th January 2006
8:00am - 4:00pm
Sunday 29th January 2006
8:30am - 4:00pm

The Tropical Affair will provide a wonderful opportunity for gardeners and the public to access tropical foliage plants, including alocasias, anthuriums, bamboos, bromeliads, calatheas, caladiums, cordylines, gingers, heliconias, kaempferias, palms and many other tropical foliage species.

EFTPOS will be available
Admission - Adults and Children 14 years and over: $3.00
Children under 14 years when accompanied by an adult: Free

Dennis is the Patron of the International Cordyline Society and IÂm sure would encourage you to attend.

Information on Members Sub-Tropical Gardens open through the AustraliaÂs Open Garden Scheme over the next couple of months will be available to visitors

No Financial Interest

Here is a link that might be useful: The International Cordyline Society

Hi All,

Went to see Dennis' garden on Friday, hoping to beat the crowd. Fat chance of that, with the Courier-Mail touting it as the 'best garden in Australia' the previous weekend. Lady behind me commented that she and her friend had the place to themselves on Friday of the previous year, but those days are clearly gone. Shuffling through single file really isnt my idea of a good time - I am very glad that I saw the garden, but I wont be going back.

Pluses -

I really liked the way Dennis has used plants like Dracaena 'Song of India' amid the palms and cordylines - immenseley striking at 4 metres !

Seeing the photo he held up of the rear section of the garden 4 years ago (think 'bare') and looking at the growth he has achieved since then was inspiring.

The main pool is really striking, and an inspiration to those of us who wish to build our own oasis away from it all.

Cheers,

Artie

I've been away from these forums for a while. Came back today to find that I could have been of some assistance with your questions about the Hundscheidt garden. Too late now. Sorry to all who had questions. I live a street away so could have offered recommendations about accomodation etc. This is the first year in many years that I haven't visited the garden. It did not seem so busy this year. Yes Artie, it is very cramped in there, but I hope you weren't too disappointed. I don't know if it was the same this year, but Dennis usually holds some private tours and gardening classes for want of a better expression. These come at a cost of course, but may be worthwhile for keen tropical lovers.

Yes, we did receive flyers advertising seminars which include a personalised tour of the garden - seemed like good value at $50. I'd be more interested in Dennis' consulting service - same advice, but tailored to my own block. Brissie folk are extremely fortunate to have people like Dennis and Colin Campbell within an hour's drive of their homes, IMO.

As for 'busy', there were cars up and down both sides of the street for 500 metres and the lineup took 15-20 minutes to reach the actual garden - by Rocky standards, that's busy. I felt the same disappointment at the Carnival of Flowers 16 months ago - I guess I just want it all to myself :)

Ah, but you can't have it all to yourself! lol.

Although the crowds were a pain, I would go again in a heartbeat. Dennis' garden is something everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.

Artie, the public transport system in Brisbane is really very good, and getting from Sunnybank to Ian's area is a piece of cake. It's a pity you weren't able to go, as Ian and Judy's garden is well worth seeing. Unlike Dennis' garden it is a garden to be lived-in, rather than a showpiece. I think all the seasons would offer something different - something that Dennis' garden, as absolutely spectacular as it is, would fail to do.

Hi liatris,

You've made some very good points - particularly in relation to seasonal colour. I should have planned my time in Brisbane a little better - Ian had offered each of us a virtually private tour of his garden, and I spent my day jostling with the multitude in Sunnybank. Live and learn, I guess.

Cheers,

Artie

Artie,
Did you end up going to see Ian's garden. It is truly magnificent garden. We went to see it 2 years ago.... and hopefully we will see it again next time we are down in Brisbane. I would like to see his new brom house.

Regards, Ari :)

No Ari - I didnt see Ians garden, but have been duly chastised by enough members to make me reconsider next year's itinerary :)

Any GWebbers who are visiting Brisbane are welcome to tour our Garden, just send me an email and I will give you details on where we are and how to get to us. Just remember that the Garden is best in Nov, Dec. The Gingers and Caladiums are all dying back at the moment so the are quite a few bare spots.
Ian

Just a follow-up on this wonderful garden, Dennis Hundscheidt has put his house (and garden) up for sale. Will be going to Auction soon. Who wants to follow on from what Dennis has done and continue to keep it to such a high standard? Not me... He has put out a book called Simply Gardening which includes a DVD on guidelines for starting and maintaining a garden if anyone is interested. It has many views of the Sunnybank garden in it.