Join Cass Dowding, an enthusiastic everyday gardener, as she has conversations with fellow plant lovers about the gardens and plants that shape our stories and connect us to what matters most.
Deb Collett on Australia Post's new dahlia stamp collection plus dahlia trials program at Cruden Farm
Deb Collett was a previous guest way back in Season One, and since then we've become great friends. So it was particularly lovely to sit down and catch up with her on this episode of Sentimental Friends - the subscriber only series where we cover news, updates and more from people in gardening world.
This episode is available for FREE FOR EVERYONE as a thank you for your patience while I paused releasing episodes for a few months!
Earlier this year, Deb was involved in Australia Post's dahlia cultivar collection, released back in May 2026 — a particularly perfect partnership given that, alongside collecting dahlias, Deb is also a passionate philatelist (stamp collector).
We chat about:
🌸 Which dahlias made their stamp debut
🌸 The story behind the breeders of the three different varieties
🌸 The dahlia trails at Cruden Farm
🌸 The National Dahlia Conference
🌸 What's been happening in Deb's own garden
🌸 And, importantly, I ask Deb how on earth I'm supposed to manage the old and new growth on my tree dahlia!
You can also catch Deb's original Sentimental Gardener episode here.
Follow Deb on Instagram @debsdahlias
Follow The Sentimental Gardener on Instagram @the_sentimental_gardener
Subscribe to the mailing list here: https://thesentimentalgardener.substack.com/subscribe
27 Jul 2026
Timothy Mitchell on tomatoes, transforming tennis courts and designing en plein air
Australian landscape architect and garden designer Timothy Mitchell joins Cass Dowding on The Sentimental Gardener podcast to talk about his early memories of plants, transforming tennis courts into a meadow of flowers and designing gardens en plein air.
They also dive into finding beauty in Australian native plants, building a dry climate garden that actually works, letting a garden evolve naturally over seasons, and why the most alive gardens are always being edited, observed and mulled over.
They recorded this episode in Tim and his partner Lucy's backyard, surrounded by the antiquing of plants moving from summer to autumn and a view of Mt. William/ Wil-im-ee Moor-ring as the backdrop.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:35 Early memories of gardens and plants
05:00 Choosing a life in landscape design
09:00 Gardeners and landscape architects
13:45 Designing public places
16:00 Transforming a tennis court into a garden
18:30 Starting a garden from scratch
19:00 Finding beauty in Australian plants
22:40 Building a dry climate garden
27:45 Letting a garden grow naturally
32:00 Trees, time and looking after nature
38:30 What makes a garden feel alive
45:30 Learning by watching plants
49:45 Quick-fire garden questions
56:45 The gardens that stay with us
59:35 Final thoughts and outro
Show notes:
Follow Timothy Mitchell on Instagram or visit website (https://www.timothymitchell.com.au/)
Follow The Sentimental Gardener on Instagram and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575865569658)
Visit The Sentimental Gardener website (https://www.thesentimentalgardener.com/)
Get Sentimental Gardener emails in your inbox (https://thesentimentalgardener.substack.com/subscribe)
Get bonus content + episodes on Sentimental Friends
Original music: Hayden Schueler of Vereya Gardening
Audio mix: Tom Dowding
Producer and editor: Cass Dowding
12 Jun 2026
Ben Clark on growing Kuranga Native Nursery, and building a family life around plants
Are you an Australian native plant fanatic? Well you're going to love this episode!
Cass Dowding chats with Ben Clark, co-owner of Kuranga Native Nursery, about growing up surrounded by the bush in Warrandyte, followed by an early obsession with plants, to building a family business around Australian native plants.
Ben shares how he first came to Kuranga as an apprentice, what happens behind the scenes in the nursery he now owns, and why the nursery has become such a loved destination for native plant buffs.
They also talk about Kuranga's expansion to a second site at Warrandyte, running the business with his wife Alexa, raising kids around the nursery, and the joy of dispersing native plants into gardens across the state, and maybe Australia!
Show notes:
Follow Kuranga Native Nursery on Instagram and Facebook
Follow The Sentimental Gardener on Instagram and Facebook
Get Sentimental Gardener emails
Support the podcast (https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheSentimentalGardener) on Patreon
Get bonus episodes on Sentimental Friends
Interested in becoming a podcast sponsor? Get more info here
Theme music: Hayden Schueler of Vereya Gardening
Audio mix: Tom Dowding
Producer and editor: Cass Dowding
Who has been a guest on The Sentimental Gardener
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Annie Winter
Ralph Bristow
Rodger Elliot
Fleur Flanery
Attila Horgosi
Podcast Authority Score: 31 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
44
Social presence
91
YouTube
0
Engagement
0
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Questions about The Sentimental Gardener
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Cass Dowding host the show. Published by Cass Dowding.
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