• 06 May, 2020
• Author: Rossgardentours

A Celebration of Colour

As we head into May, Ross Garden Tours is continuing our mission to keep you connected virtually to what’s happening in gardens around the world. Today we’re celebrating the colours of spring and autumn. Japan’s Ashikaga Flower Park and America’s Longwood Gardens welcome spring with a fanfare of blazing blooms and flower festivals. There may not be the crowds this year but that hasn’t stopped nature putting on a terrific show! While in rural Victoria, Stonefields’ brilliant tapestry of autumn blooms signals the fading of Australia’s growing season.

GOLDEN WEEK FESTIVALS, JAPAN Right now a Wisteria Festival is in full swing at the Ashikaga Flower Park in Japan. This is serious flower obsession and we are all for it! Ashikaga has the world’s finest collection of wisteria including an ancient wisteria with branches that span over 30 metres – it’s truly amazing. Ashikaga are live streaming the wisteria blooms – click on the video below to see the latest blooms. To see more from Ashikaga Flower Festival go here to their website – remember to change the language to English at the top right of the site!

Linda Ross created our Japan Spring Festivals tour and was scheduled to be at Ashikaga with a group this month. This trip is a yearly highlight for Linda and like all of us, she was very sad not to be there this May. But do not despair, Linda will be back in 2021 strolling under these gorgeous purple blooms! We’ll keep you posted on the new dates. Take a look here for more of Linda’s spring tour to Japan.

LONGWOOD GARDENS, PENNSYLVANIA, USA is one of our favourite American gardens. Exquisite in every season, Longwood is truly extraordinary in spring when thousands and thousands are blooming. For now, Longwood is closed to the public and the garden has had to adapt their garden displays, but they are still exquisitely beautiful! Click on the video below and join Garden Manager Roger Davis to see this year’s tulip display. Graham and Sandra’s USA tour couldn’t go ahead this spring due to COVID-19. The good news is, they’ll be at Longwood next year and can’t wait to see these iconic spring flowers in person! Take a look here for more on Graham and Sandra’s American garden adventure!

STONEFIELDS, VICTORIA Before domestic travel was halted in March, a Ross Garden Tours group were lucky enough to visit celebrated garden designer Paul Bangay at his private garden in rural Victoria. Such a treat to join Paul in Stonefields for a perfect afternoon of design and planting inspiration. There are always so many takeaways from our Stonefields visits including seeing firsthand the effects of carefully chosen perennials in creating a knock-out autumn bloom show! We send a heartfelt thank you to Paul for hosting us! Much love xxx. If you missed joining our Autumn tour through Victoria, you can still see what Paul is up to at Stonefields via his series of videos on Instagram. Ably assisted by his cocker spaniel Ruby (she’s so adorable!), Paul takes you through his garden, giving design insights and planting tips along the way. See Paul’s videos on Instagram @paulbangay Images below courtesy of @paulbangay

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