The Festival of Country Gardens held in November each year in Bridgetown, Western Australia should be on everyone’s travel wish-list.

Bridgetown, three hundred and thirty kilometres South of Perth, is an easy four-hour drive. Forget Margaret River for your next trip to the South West!

John and I stayed in the town, courtesy of Elizabeth and Peter Worts, my sister and brother-in-law. Over the five days of the Festival, we visited gardens large and small, new and old, traditional, quirky.  Passionate gardeners had carved them from farms and bush-land within a radius of twenty kilometres from town centre.

The picture below shows the view of part of their garden from Elizabeth’s and Peter’s kitchen window. I wondered why I needed to venture out to visit Festival Gardens when the one outside was so lovely.

Owners and gardeners greeted visitors with smiles, coffee, home-made cakes and scones, and a wealth of experience which they shared with enthusiasm. We came away from Bridgetown buzzing with the delights we’d seen.

Although we no longer have a garden, the memory of those gardens lingers. You can read about the end of our active gardening lives in a blog post here. Surprisingly, I don’t miss gardening, although I do miss a garden in which to potter.

My indoor plants thrive like pampered children under my zealous care. The few pots of herbs on the balcony reward me with a constant culinary supply.

Festival of Country Gardens

The Festival of Country Gardens will be held from 1 to 4 November 2018. Comfortable accommodation in the town and nearby districts welcomes visitors all year round.  Bridgetown Shire also sponsors other festivals through the year. They include a Blues Festival, Winter Festival and the Bridgetown Show. There is also  the Bridgetown Writers Festival.

This post is in response to a photo challenge with the title Festivals. You can link to the photo challenge here  if you would like to join.