Event Highlight: Willum Warrain and private garden tour

Our May 2025 event was held at Willum Warrain @willumwarrain in Hastings on the land of the traditional owners – the Bunurong / Boon Wurrung followed by a tour of a private garden in Balnarring.

We spent the morning at Willum Warrain, which incorporates a 100% community owned bush nursery specialising in local indigenous plants from the Mornington peninsula. The nursery grows over 170 species and is aiming to be self-sufficient with seed sourcing from its own premises. Julie (Cultural Engagement, Women’s Business/ Gathering Place Tour Guide/ Bush Nursery Worker) took us along their plant trail and shared with us her plant cultural knowledge about some of the species grown in the nursery. Some of the plants included:

• Microseris walteri (Yam Daisy) Murnong
• Billardiera mutabilis (Common Apple-berry) Garawang
• Lomandra longifolia (Spiny-headed Mat-rush)
• Carpobrotus rossii (Pigface) Karkalla

We have so much to learn about indigenous plants and how to care for our nature in a nurturing way, and this tour with Julie offered our group valuable insight into indigenous plants and how they were used.

The nursery is open to the public and there is extensive plant information on their website at willumwarrain.org.au.

Thank you to Willum Warrain for having us, and thank you Julie for sharing your knowledge.

Following our nursery visit at Willum Warrain, we were treated to an exclusive tour of a private garden at Balnarring Beach – such a special opportunity! Horticulturalist Lubana Squire of @planandplantgardens led us on a tour of the extensive property, explaining her plant choices, the challenges of the site, particularly the clay soil and drainage issues, and the freedom she had to experiment with different plants.

This opportunity to hear directly from the horticulturist tending the garden was invaluable for the garden designers amongst us. Thank you for making this possible, Lubana.