Spring is here – this is where to see the best blooms

Linda Moon
Sep 07, 2019, updated Sep 24, 2019

Connecting us to the season and nature at its most beautiful, spring blossoms are a key event for garden and nature lovers, photographers and romantics.

Think sweeping clouds of cherry blossom, bursts of bulbs, but also golden canola fields, wildflower meadows, rhododendron gardens and jacaranda-lined streets.

With the blossom season a narrow window of opportunity, it’s important to plan in advance. In aid of that, The New Daily has compiled a list of key dates, events, top festivals and gardens nationwide. Get out your diary and dust off the picnic blanket.

NSW

Fields of Gold canola tour Cowra (until October 7)

Popular with photographers and three-and-a-half hours’ drive west of Sydney.

Cost: adults $50, children aged four and over $25

Mayfield Garden spring festival, Oberon (October 5-27)

Bring a hat and a spare four hours to ramble through the 75-hectare, cold-climate garden.

Cost: From $15

Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, spring walk (until October)

Enjoy the annual display of flowering cherries, bulbs, wisteria, rhododendrons, may and more.

Cost: Free

Grafton Jacaranda Festival (October 25-November 3)

Includes art exhibitions, live music, markets, parades and more.

Cost: Free entry, additional for events

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ACT

Tulip Top Gardens (until October 13)

Better than Floriade, this four-hectare garden comes alive with blossom, bulbs and classical music.

Cost: Adults $18

Floriade (until October 13)

Includes garden-themed workshops, food, wine, markets, entertainment and over one million bulbs on displays in Commonwealth Park.

Cost: Free

Victoria

Tesselaar Tulip Festival (until October 13)

More than a million bulbs, plus food and entertainment in the Dandenong Ranges.

Cost: Adults $19-29, chidren under 16 free

Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden

The largest display of daffodils in the Southern Hemisphere, plus rhododendrons, cherries and more across 40 hectares. For what’s in bloom and when, visit the site.

Cost: Free

Alowyn Gardens, Yarra Valley

Enjoy the stunning wisteria arch and other blooms across the season.

Cost: Adults $10, children 16 and under free

Cloudehill Gardens, Olinda

Four romantic hectares of garden to explore in the Dandenong Ranges.

Cost: Adults $10, children free

Queensland

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers (September 20-29)

Technically, the carnival might be over – say it ain’t so! – but Queensland’s garden city is still blooming with bulbs and flowering annuals (across the Botanic Gardens, Queens Park and Laurel Bank Park).

Cost: Free admission, extra for ticketed events

South Australia

Renmark Rose Festival (October 18-27)

Explore open gardens and events in the rose capital of Australia.

Cost: $2 donation per garden

Clare Valley canola fields

Drive through fields of gold and drop into one of the many wineries in the region. According to photographers, early spring is prime time for blooms.

Adelaide Botanic Gardens

Wander through the wisteria arch, rose garden, and more. Call the garden to see what’s blooming when.

Cost: Free

Western Australia

Wildflowers (until late October)

The state hosts a mind-boggling 12,000 wildflower species. Get on a tour, or embark on your own floral hunt. Call the local visitors’ centre or use the WA Visitor Centre’s Wildflower Tracker.

Kings Park Festival Perth (September 1-30)

Again, you’ve actually missed this event. But you can still enjoy the wildflowers at Kings Park and Botanic Gardens, or join one of the free guided, educational walks.

Cost: Free