Ever since I can remember, I have been enchanted with flowers and nature. A few years ago I created a painting which was eerily magical in its resemblance to where we now live in Witta, very close to Maleny in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

I grew up in Northern New South Wales and thought we might one day live in the Byron hinterland. After our twins had grown up we started to consider whether it was time for a new chapter - a tough decision as we adored our home and land of 20 years at Cedar Creek (near Samford) where we experienced deep personal growth surrounded by rainforest and ancient boulders.

At first we considered moving to somewhere with beautiful surrounds where we might find a historic house - perhaps Tasmania or country Victoria. We even considered France - loving many of the houses and gardens we had visited while travelling. Or England, childhood home of my husband, Steve.

One morning Steve passed me his phone and said “take a look at this place” and before I even looked at the screen I got the feeling.

We drove to see this property which was only an hour and a half away - in the beautiful Maleny hills of the Sunshine Coast. There was a small house - similar to what we might have looked for down south or even overseas. Beside it, a cute little cottage. An airy art studio. The most magical view overlooking hills dotted with cows, a glimpse of ocean. Mature camellia and magnolia trees. A jacaranda out the front and set on wide and picturesque Witta Road. Deciduous autumn colour. A family of yellow tailed cockatoos living in the valley. Misty mornings reminiscent of stays in the Blue Mountains.

Everything I might have wished for as a child was a part of this property. It needed some renovation but had ideal bones and we were ready for a new challenge and a gentler pace of life. We are a great team with Steve being wonderful at building and structural landscaping and myself coming up with big ideas and tending to the plants. I drew a vision of a garden once in about half an hour which had structure but would be filled with overflowing flowers - romantic and wild. I felt such joy creating this plan.

Our new home at Witta just happened to have a flat terrace of grass that used to be a tennis court (no concrete thankfully!) which looked like it was just waiting for that garden (and a view beyond that gives a deep sigh of peace and joy every time). The garden was planted many years ago with lots of mature camellias, magnolias, azalea, rhododendron and magical little snowdrops, mostly around the perimeter of the acre giving us a treasured frame to work with.

We are adding lots of old fashioned roses, herbs, salvia, dahlias, lavender and other flowers for scent and picking. There are many beautiful and dainty Australian native flowers and foliage that look lovely combined with these - I really started to appreciate the colour and form of Australian flowers so much more when I started painting.

The fairytale garden has formal borders edged in corten steel - originally we were going to use brick before realising it would take ages but we are really happy with how it turned out. The structure is now in place and the garden is starting to grow and fill out. I have colour blocked the flower beds into blue/mauves, white/creams, yellows and pinks. Eventually the plants will self seed and create its own palette with the primary colour background in place. We are also planting quite a few veges around the gardens.

All in all, garden to experience a little magic - perfect for picnic blankets, smelling roses, picking flowers and being completely in the moment. This year we have experienced some huge life curveballs and challenges so enjoying the garden has become even more precious. We hope to open the garden once it is more mature for others to enjoy and also to access the picking field for workshops and just for fun.