The Garden of St Erth — Attraction in Blackwood

Excellent day. Out of the way in the now mainly disappeared gold rush village of Simons Reef accessed down a long lane from Blackwood (paved all the way). Small car park at entrance but there is a overflow car park via a dirt lane. Wonderful gardens of several acres; sections of european gardens, kitchen gardens, cottage garden and bush land gardens all set around a colonial gold rush house (one of the few left in Simons reef) that was also at one time the village shop and post office. The Kitchen gardens across the road was the site of the Simons Reef butchers shop (now long gone). There is a wonderful shop selling all manner of garden stuff from plants, seeds, tools, organic fertilisers and books. Members of the Diggers Club (the Diggers Club Trust own and run the gardens etc) get a discount on the retail prices. Diggers Club members have free entry but for none members its $10 to enter the gardens (which are a lovely spot on a hot summer day for a picnic). There is also a cafe on sight with good food - either grown organically on site or local produce. Well worth a day out if you staying in Daylesford/Hepburn/Trentham or Macedon areas and is only just over an 1 1/2...

Having detoured to visit this garden, we were very disappointed. We felt ripped off by the $15 entry fee. Apart from the vegetable garden and the small selection of autumn flowering perennials in front of the house, the garden was not inspiring. While there was some labelling of trees, there were no labels on the perennials and other shrubs. It looked very sad and unloved. We had prepared to picnick in the garden, but the gardeners were mowing the lawns at 1pm when we arrived. We ended up eating our lunch in our car in the car park! While I would have liked to buy a few interesting plants for my daughter, the non-members pricing made the plants too expensive compared to what one pays elsewhere, also considering the entry fee already paid. Perhaps the Diggers Club should consider charging members prices to those who take the trouble to visit. All in all a disappointing experience. If you want to be inspired visit Lambley Gardens or Ballarat's Botanical...

What a great place to rest at before a hike or walk at Lerderderg! This place might as well be called the garden of Eden. Beautiful gardens hidden in a little town. Food at the cafe in straight from the garden, giving the meals a very fresh and delicious taste. Keep in mind, its only opened for breakfast and lunch and only has a small variety of choices. Would recommend the slow cooked lamb dish! There’s a private garden you can wander through for $5 p/p or simply just pursue their small but plentiful nursery. Be sure to check out their gift shop. It has lots of speciality seeds & gardening items. This place is also...