horticulturist
TENTERFIELD, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA

Come with me, let me take your hand and let's open the gate to Mandy's White Cottage Farm.

I spent 3 days in Tenterfield last month, deep in the Australian bush (it's the Parisian girl talking here) about 9 hours’ drive from my house. Mandy hired me to create a little film conveying the feel of what she does.

White Cottage Farm is a fabulous concept. It's half a nursery, half a florist. When Mandy realised that people didn't really want to buy bunches of the same flowers but would rather choose one stem or two of each, she had an idea. Something else reinforced it: even in the country, not everyone has the time or the will to cultivate the perfect English garden. So what she decided to offer is a "pick-your-own" bouquet service.

The farm's visitor can simply grab a basket and secateurs, then wander around the colourful flower beds, first to admire the clever choice of plants and then choose their palette. She says that her clients feel like friends visiting her garden. Often they ask several time "Are you sure I can cut that one?". The answer is always yes! And if they're gardeners themselves, Mandy gives them the most precious advice and happily share her deep knowledge of gardening. She is the kindest person I've ever met.

Where to find her:
@whitecottage_flowerfarm_ | Facebook

A few photos shot that day…

She has started this garden from a simple lawn planted with trees. It’s the massive effort that she and her husband Hamish have put into it which make White Cottage Farm the storybook English garden.

Because the place is so beautiful, it has become the backdrop to many workshops. Often Annabelle Hickson @annabellehickson gives her flower arrangement class there or painter Nikki Malone @nikkimalonestudio teaches how to paint still lives. It's also where I decided to teach my first solo photography workshop in March (which has sold out in 1 day!).

I tried to capture the intense feeling of quite happiness that this place brings to its visitors and that special Australian light which makes everything look so beautiful.

Music by Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E-flat major, BWV 998 - I. Prelude - Interpreted by Accou, Electronic & Acoustic musician from Russia - Public Domain Mark 1.0