Garden of a Lifetime
How many people have owned — and cared for — a garden for more than eight decades? Dame Elisabeth Murdoch did, as steward of Cruden Farm — near Langwarrin, south-east of Melbourne — from 1929 until her death in 2011.
This book takes readers on a journey around the garden, and traces its evolution. It tells Dame Elisabeth’s fascinating life story. It extracts relevant messages, and gardening tips, from diaries meticulously kept by long-serving gardener Michael Morrison.
Gardens are about people, as well as about plants. Dame Elisabeth understood this as she generously shared ‘Cruden Farm’ with the public over many years. Her legacy continues.
Published by Pan Macmillan, Sydney — 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013
Commemorative edition at bookstores including Avoca Hill Bookstore, Readings, The Novel Idea, My Bookshop
Dame Elisabeth Murdoch picks daffodils in her garden
A long view across the lake at Cruden Farm
Gardens are places for flowers – white broom and deep blue ceanothus – trees, grass and birds
Silver-trunked eucalypts delineate the Cruden Farm driveway
Lush planting of lilies and Hosta sieboldiana