The year ahead
What's on: Australia
Flower shows, festivals and awareness days for the next twelve months. Dates shown in green were confirmed against the organiser's own website; everything else shows the month it usually falls in.
November
Australian Pollinator Week
A week encouraging people to notice and support native bees and other pollinators.
Hobart Rose and Iris Show
Roses and irises at their late-spring best, grown and shown by local gardeners on the Hobart waterfront. One of the floral shows the Hobart Horticultural Society has put on with the city since 1875.
Kentish GardenFEST
A spring weekend when private gardens around Sheffield open to visitors. One ticket, sold in town, covers every garden for both days.
December
World Soil Day
A day for the living material everything in the garden depends on. Healthy soil is the whole game.
The December solstice
The shortest day in the northern hemisphere and the longest in the southern. The turning point of the year for daylight.
February
World Wetlands Day
A day for the marshes, bogs and ponds that hold water and life. Even a small garden pond does a version of the same job.
Kentish FlowerFEST
The Kentish Garden Club's yearly flower show in Sheffield Town Hall, with dahlias, roses, cut flowers, home-grown vegetables and floral arrangements on the show bench. There are plant and produce stalls too.
March
World Wildlife Day
A day about wild plants and animals and the habitats they need. Gardens are a surprisingly large share of that habitat.
Hobart Dahlia Show
Dahlias at their late-summer peak, grown and shown by local gardeners in the Hobart Town Hall. One of the floral shows the Hobart Horticultural Society has put on with the city since 1875.
Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show
The southern hemisphere's largest horticultural event, held in the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens each autumn.
The March equinox
Day and night are close to equal length everywhere. Spring begins in the north, autumn in the south.
International Day of Forests
A day for trees and what they do for us. A single garden tree still provides shade, shelter and food for wildlife.
World Water Day
A day about fresh water and using it carefully. Worth a thought for anyone with a hose or a water butt.
April
Earth Day
A worldwide day of environmental action, marked since 1970. Composting, planting or simply leaving a corner wild all count.
May
International Day of Plant Health
A day about keeping plants free of pests and disease. Most plant problems travel on plants we move about ourselves.
World Bee Day
A day for bees and the other pollinators most of our food depends on. A patch of flowering plants is a real contribution.
International Day for Biological Diversity
A day about the variety of life and why it matters. A mixed garden supports far more of it than a tidy one.
June
World Environment Day
The United Nations' biggest day for environmental action, marked since 1973.
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
A day about land drying out and losing its fertility. The principles that hold soil together in a garden hold it together anywhere.
The June solstice
The longest day in the northern hemisphere and the shortest in the southern. From here the daylight turns the other way.
July
National Tree Day
Australia's biggest community tree-planting event, held on the last Sunday in July.
World Mangrove Day
A day for the coastal forests that hold shorelines together and shelter an enormous amount of marine life.
September
Tulip Time
Tens of thousands of tulips planted in the Southern Highlands and opened to the public each spring.
Floriade
Australia's biggest celebration of spring, a month of massed bulb planting in Commonwealth Park.
Table Cape Tulip Farm tulip season
A working bulb farm on the Table Cape headland that opens its tulip fields to visitors for a few weeks each spring. The fields sit above Bass Strait, and the colour is usually best in early October.
Launceston Horticultural Society Spring Show
The spring flower show of the Launceston Horticultural Society, founded in 1838 and one of the oldest garden societies in Australia. Local growers show and judge their spring flowers, with plants for sale.
World Ozone Day
Marks the treaty that repaired the ozone layer — one of the clearest cases of an environmental problem actually being fixed.
Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers
A month of parades, garden competitions and public planting displays, running since 1949.
The September equinox
Day and night are close to equal length again. Autumn begins in the north, spring in the south.
October
Wynyard Tulip Festival
A free community festival in Wynyard's Gutteridge Gardens, held while the tulips are out at nearby Table Cape. It is run by Waratah-Wynyard Council and ends with fireworks over the Inglis River.
Annual Tomato Plant Sale
The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens sells dozens of heirloom tomato varieties and cool-climate chillies over one weekend. It falls around the time Hobart gardeners traditionally plant out their tomatoes.
World Food Day
A day about how the world is fed. A vegetable bed is a small answer to a very large question.