There was a very enthusiastic response to our first event for 2019, our garden tour and lunch at Heide Museum of Modern Art on Sunday 17th February. Interest in the event was so high we, unfortunately, had to turn people away! Our large group was split into two and was ably assisted by two of Heide’s Volunteer Guides who showed us the various garden areas which artists John and Sunday Reed established and tended from the 1930s up until the 1980s. Surrounding the original house (Heide 1) there is a kitchen garden, walled and wild garden. Down the hill near their second house is the larger kitchen garden which Sunday Reed cared for until she died in 1981.
There are many protected trees on the site: some of the 1000 Eucalypts which were planted are still standing, as are a row of Osage Orange trees (Maclura pomifera). We also learnt much about the modernist architecture on the site, particularly the Reeds’ second house which they had as much involvement in designing as the Architect, David McGlashan. The tour indicated how the Reeds’ approach to their art influenced all areas of their life: architecture, literature and the natural world. Following the tour we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Café Heide while reconnecting with old friends and meeting many of the new faces who came along to share the day with us and find out more about the Heide legacy.
