Revealed: open gardens for 2022 Grafton Jacaranda Festival

The best gardens in the Clarence Valley have been revealed, and are open to the public for the 2022 Grafton Jacaranda Festival. Meet Grafton’s top green thumbs.

Some of Grafton’s most beautiful foliage isn’t in the streets with the masses of jacarandas, but in the annual display of gardens that open to the public every year.

Some of the Clarence’s most dedicated and talented gardeners are on show throughout the Jacaranda Festival, with open gardens located throughout Grafton.

Here’s our profile of some of the valley’s best gardeners.

Grafton District Golf Club

Jen Townsend in the gardens at the Grafton District Golf Club.

This garden focuses heavily on natives, and providing golfers and non-golfers alike a tranquil place to relax and take in the views of the historic course, alongside hundreds of kangaroos.

Lead garden volunteer Jen Townsend has been hard at work getting ready for the Jacaranda Festival, and describes the club’s gardens as a second home for her.

Ms Townsend quite literally lives on the second tee box at Grafton, and her husband was president for over a decade, motivating her to get into curation.

“It’s not all me, we have a team of ten to twelve volunteers who generally come together on Mondays.”

Ms Townsend describes the condition of the course and gardens as “amazing”, given the difficulty the course has during flood periods.

“The whole course is built on clay soils, which don’t drain as well as sand-based soils,” she said.

“With the last twelve months being so wet, it’s been a challenge.”

Clarence Valley Conservatorium

Joy Ricketts in the gardens at the Clarence Valley Conservatorium.

The conservatorium has been established as the home of the performing arts in Grafton since the 1930s, and since Covid lockdown, has served a double purpose as a sensory experience for both the ears and eyes with the garden taken over by Joy Ricketts.

The retiree took to the garden after getting involved on the committee as a regular attendee, with her grandson’s lessons at the venue.
It was a lockdown passion project for Ms Ricketts, who takes pride in not having any true rhyme or reason to the garden.

“It’s just what makes me happy, and it all just puts a smile on people’s faces - that’s what it’s all about.”

She isn’t alone in the gardens, with veteran Grafton musician Dan Fahey collaborating as well.

The Conservatorium is set to be a hive of activity this Jacaranda Festival, with the Regional Youth Orchestra playing on November 2 and a free concert on October 28.

Vines at 139

Erin Brown in the gardens at Vines at 139.

Vines at 139 is Erin Brown’s third Grafton restaurant venture, and she is no stranger to venues with extensive gardens, having operated the Grafton Golf Club kitchen previously.

The Fitzroy St venue hosts many formal events and has been decked out in purple for the Jacaranda Festival.

Likewise, the gardens at Vines are updated regularly and with the festival in full swing, Brown has taken to the “old-school” garden to add as much purple as possible.

Ms Brown prides herself on the garden being practical and accessible to all comers.

“We grow all of our own herbs, and lots of the flowers are edible too.”

The lavender patch services the creation of unique desserts like a lavender brulee, while there are a plethora of edible flowers used for garnishes.

“The community love the garden, people come past all the time asking for cuttings and to add their own plants into the garden.

“They’re welcome to, just don’t rip the cuttings off.”