🌿 Guest: Joanne, Flower & Seed Farmer | Albury-Wodonga, VIC https://backyardgardenenthusiast.com.au/
📅 Recorded: Live at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show – Growers Avenue
🎧 Podcast: Dish the Dirt
📍 Location: Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show

In this special episode recorded live from the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, host Rebecca Noble sits down with Joanne, a passionate Australian native flower and seed farmer from Albury-Wodonga.

Joanne shares her story of transforming a backyard block into a thriving native garden and seed farm. She discusses her love for species like billy buttons, blue devils, and native tobacco—and how saving seeds evolved from hobby to purpose-driven business. Together, they chat about biodiversity, seed resilience, and the joy of watching native grasses sway while red-browed finches drop in for a feed.

This episode is filled with gentle laughter, grassroots wisdom, and a constant background hiss (that’s the bustling atmosphere of the Flower Show!)—a perfect backdrop for celebrating the resilience and creativity of Australian growers.

• Why native plants belong in every garden—formal or cottage

• How Joanne discovered the magic of billy buttons and blue devils

• Seed collecting as an act of care and curiosity

• The role of native grasses in biodiversity and birdlife

• Challenges and joys of being a solo seed farmer

• The thrill of seeing her seeds in the hands of everyday gardeners.

• Native tobacco, blue banded bees, Xanthorrhoea (grass trees)

• Pollinator Corridors and native planting projects in Melbourne

“I really am more of an advocate than a salesperson... 60% of biodiversity is in the ground layers—and we need to look closer, not just up at the trees.”

Available wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or via dishthedirtpodcast.com.au
🎧 Don’t forget to rate, review, and share!

To the Growers Avenue team at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show for supporting this live recording. And of course, to all the passionate growers who make our landscapes so rich in story.