Keith’s hands were covered in dirt from a young age. His parents were both keen gardeners and the family grew the majority of their household vegies. For them, gardening was a way of life.
“We didn’t buy many vegetables and there was always something new growing in the garden,” Keith remembers.
“All our family have been involved in gardening. My uncle was a cut flower grower, my grandfather gardened, and I had a nephew who was the Deputy Manager of Bendigo Botanical Gardens.”
Flowers were the primary gardening passion for many members of Keith’s family. “My Aunty Gwen ran a florist shop in Malvern,” Keith recalls. “I would grow Lily of the Valley and red roses and send them to her, and each year she would gift me a bunch of Dutch irises for my birthday.”
Keith recalls that growing flowers was not all sunshine and roses. “I remember one year, rough weather ruined my uncle’s crop. We found him crying in the field because he wouldn’t have enough blooms to sell to buy Christmas presents for the family.”
The Second World War took Keith away from his garden, but afterwards he took up the family profession and began growing flowers commercially.
“One year I grew 30,000 pots of megastigma boronia! 2,000 of them were sent all the way to Perth.”
Keith has an incredible knowledge of flowers that remains sharp as ever – even now he knows which flowers are beginning to bloom at any time of year. His favourite flowers are camellias and he was on the Board of Camellias Australia and helped establish a community garden in Olinda.
At 98 years old, Keith’s gardening has shifted. He now lives in a retirement village in Eltham and can be found outside tending his plants most days. There are plans to relocate his garden to a larger area, allowing him to grow more varieties.
He has returned to his roots and primarily grows edible vegetables: this summer, his garden is headlined by a dozen varieties of Diggers heirloom tomatoes. Each season, he shares his harvest with other members of the retirement village.
Gardening is not without challenges: each season brings a new battle with the local wildlife who love to snack on his vegies.
“A neighbour recently said to me ‘You shouldn’t be angry at the possums –they’re God’s creatures too.’ I told her, ‘I know that and I’ve told God what I think of his creatures!’”
Keith has also built a friendship with Jodi, a member of the Diggers customer service team. He regularly calls the team to update them on his latest gardening successes.
For Keith, life without gardening is unimaginable. “Gardening makes the world live. It makes you wild at times, but it gladdens your heart.”