“My middle name is Rose, it is my favourite flower – I guess it’s part of why I collect them and love them so much.”
Located a few kilometres from Cloudehill, Val (Rose) Jackson and her roses are well-known in the local gardening community, after growing them in her Olinda garden in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges for 25 years. The long-term Diggers member has over 90 varieties of her namesake flower, including her favourite ‘Princess Alexandra of Kent’.
“I particularly love it because it flowers for a long period, it’s a gorgeous colour, quite dark in the bud, then it opens up and by the end it’s a mauve lilac colour,” Val explained.
Val and her late husband Don created their bloom-filled sanctuary as a place to grow old together. But losing Don just seven years after moving there meant Val carries on the legacy of the love of her life, who she feels lives on in the garden they planted together.
“It’s my life, because of my association and my love with Don. He was a horticulturist and garden designer, so he was my mentor. I make a cup of tea every morning and walk through the garden. I go up the paths and just wander. I might think I’ll do that today or perhaps I could move that. It just gives me a beautiful start to the day.”
“I love visiting Cloudehill – just going there, walking through the garden is magical – talking with (head gardener) Jeremy (Francis) and whoever else is there. It’s lovely to have an institution like that so close by. I walk down their perennial borders; they are to die for. It gives you so much inspiration visiting somewhere like Cloudehill.”
But it is the peace Val finds in her own garden, something she likens to a deep, enduring friendship, that Val cherishes most – along with Poppy the Toy Poodle, who is a constant by her side.
“I would absolutely not exist without a garden. It’s great therapy and if I’m feeling a little bit low, I will sit in the garden. I think it’s being in touch with nature, choosing the plants that really affect you and move you in some way. It’s a closeness, a tranquillity, it’s warm and very nurturing. And Poppy, Poppy is very much part of my life too.”
