The Sentimental Gardener

Annie Winter, gardener, and Cass share laughs, tangents, and heartfelt reflections in this Christmas Special recorded in The Winter Garden. Can they cover everything they want to talk about? Most likely not! But along the way, you'll hear: How their friendship began (it started with a "no") Behind the scenes of starting a podcast and dealing with imposter syndrome Gardens where they felt the 'whoosh' this year Reflections on this season's incredible guest stories Listener stories that made them cry One lucky listener winning a $50 voucher from Kuranga Native Nursery Stay until the end for a hilarious outtake! About Annie's garden: Annie's garden opens in January 2026 for Global Gardens of Peace fundraising event. Read more in Garden's Illustrated, Galah magazine, The Design Files  and Studio Home Unearthed.  Follow The Sentimental Gardener on Instagram and Substack: @the_sentimental_gardener Follow Annie on Instagram: @annmaree.winter And go to the website www.thesentimentalgardener.com for show notes and other stories.  The Sentimental Gardener is a gardening podcast (that's not really a gardening podcast) hosted by Cass Dowding. Produced, recorded and edited by Cass Dowding. Mixed by Tom Dowding Theme music by Hayden Schueler from @vereyagardening Hosted on Libsyn Five. See https://libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy/ for more information. 

Ralph Bristow, expressionist painter and garden designer, joins Cass for a gentle, searching conversation about what happens when we design not from certainty, but from listening. They explore Ralph's experience of synaesthesia — hearing gardens as music — how embracing entropy and creative dissonance shapes living landscapes, and why beginning without a finished picture can lead to the most alive work of all. From colour inversion to jazz-fusion rhythms in planting, Ralph shares how his gardens emerge through risk, instinct, and deep attention to the land. Along the way, they reflect on the emotional safety beautiful spaces create — how gardens can help us feel open without feeling overwhelmed — and how his mother's words, "Do it while you can," became quiet permission to keep creating even when outcomes remain unknown. This is an invitation into uncertainty as a creative companion — into tending not just gardens, but our capacity to begin, listen, and feel fully alive. SHOW NOTES See extensive show notes at The Sentimental Gardener — Ralph Bristow Buy tickets to visit The Barwitian Garden with Open Gardens Victoria — January 2026 Music: Hayden Schueler @vereyagardening Audio engineering: Tom Dowding Production & editing: Cass Dowding Privacy policy: libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy

Horticulturist, author, and advocate for Australian native plants, Roger Elliot AM joins Cass Dowding on The Sentimental Gardener to explore how a lifetime of noticing — from childhood bushland to decades of fieldwork — can shape the way we understand the natural world. From early days learning under mentors like Edna Walling, Jack McLeod, and Glen Wilson, to co-authoring alongside David Jones the landmark Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation, Roger has spent more than sixty years asking: How do plants, people, and place shape one another? And what grows when we care with curiosity? In this episode, they talk about: the "web of life" Roger saw long before ecology had a name the quiet, essential partnership of Roger and Gwen how nurseries, fieldwork, and mentoring shaped generations of plant lovers and why caring for plants is inseparable from caring for people A gentle, generous conversation about legacy, relationship, and the slow work of cultivating a life with meaning. — SHOW NOTES: See extensive show notes over at The Sentimental Gardner - Rodger Elliot Visit the Australian Garden at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Cranbourne to see one of the landscapes Roger helped shape. Music by Hayden Schueler @vereyagardening Audio Engineering: Tom Dowding Production and Editing: Cass Dowding Privacy: libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy

Landscape architect, horticulturist, and Director of Outlandish Ventures, Fleur Flanery joins Cass Dowding on The Sentimental Gardener to explore how the landscapes we shape — from backyards to public parks — reflect what we value. From childhood gardens brought to life by the imagination to managing Canberra's urban forest and curating the Australian Landscape Conference, Fleur has spent a lifetime asking: What is this place saying? What could it become? In this episode, they talk about: memory, lineage, and legacy held in plants rethinking beauty in public spaces what it means to sit on the edge of an idea and why design — done with intent — is an act of care A reflective conversation about tending both land and life with purpose. — SHOW NOTES: Learn more about Fleur's work, garden tours and The Australian Landscape Conference at Outlandish Ventures. Follow @outlandishventures on Instagram for updates.   Music by Hayden Schueler @vereyagardening Audio Engineering: Tom Dowding Production and Editing: Cass Dowling Privacy: libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy

Canberra-based gardener, horitculturist, educator, and advocate for sustainable horticulture Attila Horgosi joins Cass Dowding on The Sentimental Gardener to explore what it means to live a life of observation — one that moves in rhythm with nature, not against it. From his home garden in Bywong, New South Wales — affectionately known as his plant zoo — Attila has spent nearly thirty years cultivating more than plants. He's cultivated a way of being. In this conversation, they talk about: how his family's migration shaped his philosophy of patience and observation, why he believes every weed tells a story, what the garden can teach us about paying attention, and the quiet rebellion of living slowly in a world that wants everything now. A grounded, reflective conversation about time, attention, and what can happen when we stop rushing for answers and start listening to the world around us. // Show notes // Follow Attila The Horticulturist on Instagram Find links and resources mentioned in the episode here.   Credits: Music: Hayden Schueler from @vereyagardening Audio Engineering: Tom Dowding Production and editing: Cass Dowding See libsyn.com/tos-policies/privacy-policy for privacy information.