When spring arrives, it’s tempting to start dreaming of plane tickets to Japan and picnics beneath the cherry blossoms. But before you fork out for a flight, why not take a look a little closer to home?

From sprawling tulip displays tended by a single family to flowing fields of fluorescent canola and orchards abundant with blossoms, it’s all here right on your doorstep.

For a taste of Japan without the long-haul flight, Cowra is the place to begin. The five-hectare Japanese garden, which happens to be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, explodes with cherry blossoms each September, and the blossoms aren’t alone; they are accompanied by magnolias, azaleas and beautifully hedged foliage that sets quite the scene.

The garden’s annual Sakura Matsuri festival, which takes place in late September, celebrates the season with Japanese food, music and cultural demonstrations, but you don’t need to attend the festival to see the blooms. The Cowra Japanese Garden is open daily from 8:30 am to 5 pm. Admission fees apply.

While the Japanese garden supplies Cowra’s pinks and whites, the countryside contributes great swathes of gold with its vast canola fields. Depending on the season, canola generally flowers from late August through September, with the locations changing each year according to crop rotations.

The safest way to find the best displays is to contact the Cowra Visitor Information Centre or simply jump in the car and start exploring the region. Remember that canola fields are working farms, so you’ll need to admire them from designated viewpoints and roadside stops.

Tucked beneath Gulaga at Central Tilba, Foxglove Gardens provides an escape to the English countryside. Spread across 1.2 hectares and filled with rambling paths, water features, garden rooms, roses, perennials and cottage flowers, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped straight into a Jane Austen novel.

There is no single mass-planted spectacle here; the pleasure is in wandering and discovering something new around each corner. Foxglove Gardens is generally open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm, but check current hours before setting out. Turn your amble into a full weekend by booking a room at its onsite retreat.

Red Cow Farm is a garden for romantics and those who like to lose themselves in curated nature for a few hours. Spread across six acres in the historic village of Sutton Forest, it is divided into more than 20 garden rooms, including a cottage garden, monastery garden, beech walk, orchard and woodland.

Spring brings bulbs, blossom, clematis and rare perennials, with each space revealing itself gradually as you explore. Red Cow Farm is open daily from 10 am to 4 pm, with paid entry and the last admission at 3:30 pm.

This grand Georgian House built in 1834 is surrounded by charming gardens that are an attraction in their own right. Linger among the heritage roses, cool-climate flowers, mature trees and orchards that all sit alongside one of the property’s most charming features, an extensive hedge maze.

The garden is especially lovely in late spring when the roses begin to bloom. Harper’s Mansion is open Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm, with an admission fee applying.

Canberra’s annual tulip festival, Floriade is the flower aficionado’s obvious spring choice, and for good reason. More than a million bulbs and annuals transform Commonwealth Park into a patterned patchwork of tulips, daffodils and carefully coordinated garden beds.

Over the years, Floriade has slowly morphed into a broader food and entertainment festival, but behind the concerts, markets and attractions is still one of Australia’s greatest flower displays. Entry to daytime Floriade is free; in 2026, the festival runs from 12 September to 11 October.

If you’re already visiting Floriade, make time to cross the lake to Lennox Gardens and Nara Peace Park. The Japanese-themed garden’s cherry trees produce a delicate display of pink and white blossom, usually around late August and September.

It’s an easy win and an excellent place to spread out a picnic when Commonwealth Park is overrun with the tour bus crowds. Lennox Gardens and Nara Peace Park are free public spaces open daily, although the short blossom season means timing your visit carefully.

The country around Boorowa, Galong, Harden-Murrumburrah and Young becomes one of the state’s great scenic drives when the canola is in bloom. Catch the golden fields in the morning light or in the late afternoon for the best views.

There is no admission fee to see the canola; this is a roadside attraction. Check with Hilltops Region tourism for current conditions, pull completely off the road before stopping, respect private property and don’t walk in the paddocks, and you’re in for a real treat.

Young is known as Australia’s cherry capital, but the spectacle begins well before the fruit arrives, as cherry trees, plums, peaches and nectarines come into bloom in the early spring, cloaking the region in clouds of white and pink blossom.

The orchards are private working properties rather than public parks, so visitors should seek out participating farms, organised blossom events or recommended roadside viewing points. Contact the Young Visitor Information Centre before travelling for current flowering conditions and places welcoming visitors.

Batlow’s apple orchards announce the beginning of the growing season with a wash of pink and white blooms. At an elevation of around 750 metres, the town produces blossoms later than many lower-lying areas, usually around October.

A drive through the surrounding orchards provides the best overview, and a lunch stop at the Apple Thief Cider House is a must with its blossom-lined entry being quite the showstopper.

The orchards in the region are privately owned, so enjoy them from public roads or visit businesses that specifically advertise public access.

Australia’s high country offers a different and more subtle kind of floral experience. Once the snow begins to retreat, the alpine landscape is dotted with snow daisies, yellow billy buttons, alpine sunrays, marsh marigolds and the delicate anemone buttercup, which is found only in Kosciuszko National Park.

The timing of blooms is seasonally dependent, and this winter has been unseasonably warm, so think of this as a late spring and into summer destination with the best displays frequently extending into December and January. Popular routes to see the wild flowers include the Kosciuszko Walk from Thredbo and the Summit Walk from Charlotte Pass. Check NSW National Parks for track conditions, snow cover and park entry fees before visiting.

Just north of Canberra, Tulip Top Gardens is an impressive private garden created and maintained by the Rhodin family, and it stands as a testament to what one family can achieve. Thousands of tulips and other spring bulbs flow beneath mature blossom trees, creating a far more intimate and enclosed experience than nearby Floriade.

Tulip Top Gardens opens daily from 12 September to 11 October, with paid entry at the gate.

Tulip Time, Corbett Gardens, Bowral

Bowral has celebrated spring with tulips for more than six decades. During Tulip Time, Corbett Gardens is filled with tens of thousands of tulips and annuals, while smaller floral displays spill into public spaces across the town.

It’s also an excuse to explore the Southern Highlands at its most colourful, when blossom trees and cool-climate gardens are at their best across the region. Tulip Time runs from 11 September to 5 October in 2026, with tickets required for Corbett Gardens.

Not every spring display needs a gardener, and the East Rim and Wildflower walking tracks at Fitzroy Falls offer a place to see nature do its thing without human interference. As you pass through heathlands, grassy woodlands and eucalypt forests, native flowers emerge among the sandstone, and sweeping views of the Southern Highlands are a reminder of the wonders on our doorstep.

The walk is about 6.7 kilometres return and takes two to three hours, although shorter sections can be enjoyed. The tracks are open year-round, subject to park conditions, and parking fees apply at Fitzroy Falls Visitor Centre.

A little further afield in the Central Tablelands but definitely worth the drive is Mayfield Garden, which unfolds on a grand scale across 65 hectares.

Bringing together flowering trees, bulbs, rhododendrons, water features, formal garden rooms and one of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest hedge mazes, the established gardens are a true delight.

Allow several hours to explore the garden’s pathways, bridges, cascades and hidden corners. Mayfield Garden is open daily from 9 am to 4:30 pm, with the last entry at 3 pm and admission fees applying.

Original Article published by Tenele Conway on About Regional.

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