Promoting the enjoyment, knowledge and benefits of gardens and gardening Open Gardens Australia Welcomes you to BOMINDA It is hard to keep the story of “Bominda” short but I will try. In 2006 we bought 340 acres at Rosevale. We had fallen in love with the area. A hidden valley, one hour south of Brisbane in the Scenic Rim, Rosevale is mostly known for its dairy, beef cattle and farming. There were no buildings on the property but it had magnificent views of the Great Dividing Range. We chose a site for the house, on a hill (frost free), looking south towards Rosevale and the mountains. It was a stunning view after the plains of Goondiwindi. The builders finished the house and shed by Christmas 2007. They had cleared the land and made a pad for the house. Behind the house was quite steep and bare after all the earth moving. We moved in and started tree planting in March ’08. The garden is now 7 yrs old. Little did I know that this was going to become a passion and an obsession! A wonderful subtropical climate, fertile soils, sweet spring water and nothing to stop the garden from expanding outwards (Bow tried to stop my expansion by putting a fence around it…I was lucky; he built a generous fence!) so I started to fill up the 6 acres. A couch lawn was laid in front of the house. And… then we started planting! Trees first! Tipuanas for the avenue up to the house. The stunning Poinciana as the feature tree around our home; planted so they wouldn’t take away our view. We then started looking for the unusual; rare or hard to find trees and shrubs such as the Chorisia speciosa (silk floss tree) and the Kapok tree. Three years into the garden we became interested in trees for food. Such a forgiving climate! In went the mangos, bananas, avocados, persimmons, ice-cream beans, rollinia, panama berries and many many more varieties of fruit trees! It is such a pleasure to eat your home grown produce! Food straight off the tree! We both loved this garden as it evolved and took up more and more of our time! By 2010 we had built our Little Red Hen House ( a grand home for our fowl) and had completed the very ambitious vegy patch. Again, fresh is best! Straight out of the soil, not off the supermarket shelves. Bow and I love the birds that have moved into the garden since we started it; those magnificent eagles that catch the thermals and seem to glide endlessly looking for prey, the magpies, peewees, kookaburras; The doves, wrens and finches. Open Gardens Australia is a self-funding, not for profit organisation dedicated to promoting the enjoyment, knowledge and benefits of gardens and gardening in the Australian community. To encourage the gardeners of the future, children under 18 are admitted free of charge. Most of our income comes from the entry fee you pay to visit the gardens and part of this is dedicated to funding community garden projects. Since 1987 over $1,100,000 has been given to projects across Australia. Our garden owners also raise funds for charities and $5,000,000 has been given to worthwhile causes. Copies of the Open Gardens Guide are available from www.opengarden.org.au, all good bookstores & newsagents, or by phoning (03) 5427 1488 Promoting the enjoyment, knowledge and benefits of gardens and gardening We have added our own and others’ artistic creations to the garden. Sculptures, bronzes, pottery, works of wood and magnificent logs from the Keetah Bridge near Yelarbon. It is called “The Pentagon.” On the north-western side of the house we have created our tropical area. Trees, such as the Cassia Grandis, Bauhinia blackeana, the Queen Crepe Myrtle, Magnolia Little Gem and palms create the canopy. The understory is full of shrubs such as hibiscus and acalaphas and tropical plants such as heliconias, gingers, begonias and salvias. This garden is still very young in the scheme of things. It still has many decades of growing. But…it has been a great adventure up to now and the best is still ahead of us! Every year brings exciting discoveries. Min Taylor Open Gardens Australia is aiming to significantly reduce its impact on the environment and we hope you support us in this endeavour. Please return your garden notes as you leave so they can be reused and recycled. These notes are also available online at www.opengarden.org.au The gardens that open for us are chosen to reflect a great diversity of styles and may even challenge the conventional view of what constitutes a garden. While aspects of a garden may not be to your taste, we urge you to celebrate this diversity. Please remember you are visiting a private home and show respect and sensitivity for the owners who have so generously shared their garden with you.