Red varietals include Arthur’s Generous Cabernet Sauvignon, Mary’s Velvety Merlot and Harriet’s Elegant Pinot Noir. In white, why not try Herbert’s Refreshing Pinot Grigio, Louisa’s Fragrant Riesling or Lillian’s Graceful Sparkling.

We have a fabulous offer this month on our Eliza’s Ten range. Try any* of the Eliza’s Ten six packs for just $99.00, or a mixed case that includes two Pinot Grigio, two Merlot and two Cabernet Sauvignon for just $119.00. It’s the perfect time to try out this new range or stock up on your favourites.

Head to our online shop to find out more: http://shop.lindemans.com.au/

*Excluding Eliza’s Ten Sparkling

Each cheese variety has its own intricate set of flavour attributes in the same way wine does. Both are made with passion and expertise by master craftsmen who, over a long period of time, have honed their skills over several generations to ensure the best possible products. Like Lindeman’s, Mainland Cheese believes that good things take time and mature their cheeses with care and dedication until they develop their unique Mainland flavour.

All cheddars are aged for different periods of time meaning each cheese is slightly different.  A Mainland Extra Tasty cheese aged to 18 months will be solid, easy to slice, have a robust flavour, be slightly nutty, and will provide a great overall lingering flavour hit. Vintage cheddar on the other hand, aged to 24 months, will become slightly crumbly with a more intense cheddar favour and a deep sweetness that provides a memorable experience.  Moving on to the Mainland Epicure, or “the godfather of cheddar” aged to perfection at 36 months, this cheese provides a wonderfully crumbly texture with a slight crunch and intense flavour that creates a craving to try it again and again.

I find the best way to find a great match of wine and cheese is to include other foods and consider the occasion. For example a distinguished Mainland Vintage cheddar aged for 24 months served as a late lunch beckons for ripe tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, a splash of balsamic and a good extra virgin olive oil.  This would be well accompanied by a delightful crisp young and fresh chardonnay, such as Lindeman’s Early Harvest Crisp Chardonnay, perfect with the relative low alcohol level for an afternoon sip.

However, the same distinguished vintage cheese with deep cheddar flavour and crumbly texture served following a sit down dinner would be best enjoyed with some roasted macadamia nuts and a wine with sweetness and refreshing palate.  A perfect match being a Lindeman’s Sweet Seasons Blancello or, to be a bit more risky, try the Lindeman’s Early Harvest Sparkling with a hint of pinot and citrus tones providing a crisp finish.

The perfect match isn’t always possible but following these tips may help you enjoy great cheese with great wine:

• Mainland Havarti – creamy, mild cheese works well with passionfruit or pineapple.  Serve with Lindeman’s Early Harvest Sparkling or Lindeman’s Early Harvest Crisp Chardonnay.

• Mainland Edam or Mainland Gouda – firmer, mild to sweet flavour goes with smoked ham, mustards, gherkins and crusty bread. Delicious with Lindeman’s Early Harvest Semillon Sauvignon Blanc.

• Mainland Extra Tasty – cheddar flavour, smooth to crumbly texture, can be served with tomatoes and basil or stone fruits.  Well matched with Lindeman’s Early Harvest Sparkling or the sweeter Lindeman’s Sweet Seasons Blancello.

• Mainland Vintage – deep cheddar flavour and crumbly texture, matches well with softer artisan breads, pitted dates and walnuts, green olives, or traditional grapes. Serve with the Lindeman’s Early Harvest Crisp Chardonnay with refreshing melon and stone fruit tones.

• Mainland Epicure – intense cheddar, crumbly texture, suited to soft artisan breads, fresh figs, or cuts of apple and pear.  Goes well with the Lindeman’s Early Harvest Semillon Sauvignon Blanc with a fresh fruit finish to really cleanse the palate.

This month, thanks to Lindeman’s and Mainland and in collaboration with Peter Wrights tips on matching wine and cheese, we have 30 Mainland Cheese packs to be WON! For here for competition details

Article by Peter Wright, Australian Culinary Federation National President – Mainland Ambassador

Highlights of the Show include the avant-garde gardens designed by leading names, with the Floral Marquee as the centrepiece. The Show also features smaller gardens such as the Artisan and Urban Gardens. Despite its name, the Flower show is of course home to much more than just flowers. Speciality exhibits include floral displays, tree exhibits, vegetable and herb gardens, as well as floral photography, arrangements and floristry. In 2011 the Show also introduced a new artisan garden category, featuring beautiful artistic and natural gardens.

But don’t take our word for it – why not see the Chelsea Garden Show for yourself?  Lindeman’s are giving 1 lucky winner and a friend the chance to head to the UK to visit the 2012 Chelsea Flower show and see what all the flowery fuss is about. All you need to do is purchase any two 750ml Lindeman’s Early Harvest or Sweet Seasons wines in the one transaction from any Liquorland or 1^st Choice outlet, before 15/04/1 2 and enter online at www.lindemans.com.au and you and a friend could be on your way to the world’s most fabulous flower show!

Head to Lindemans.com.au to find out more info on the competition, or head to the competition page here. But you’ll need to be quick! The competition finishes on the 15^th of April, so get in quick for your chance to win!

Deciduous trees provide such a lovely, filtered shade that many perennials thrive beneath them. Some perennials are deciduous in winter – such as hostas – so Winter-growing bulbs such as snowdrops (Galanthus) planted between clumps, extend the season. Crab-apples, for example, flower in spring and have colourful fruit and leaves in autumn, then let the sun through in winter to allow perennials such as Winter Rose (Helleborus) to gain some much needed winter sunshine. My hellebores are not watered in summer yet flower reliably each year, from June until usually September, in pinks, plum, white or green.

Epimedium Barrenwort is a tough perennial that has delicate lemon, yellow, white or pink flowers on 30cm stems in spring. The heart-shaped leaves are often dappled bronze on opening and some varieties tint red in autumn. Mine are not fully deciduous in winter so I cut back the old leaves in early spring to better see the spurred columbine-like flowers.

The sky-blue tubular flowers of Corydalis flexuosa can appear almost year-round over dainty, ferny foliage. It reaches 25cm high in a moist semi-shady spot and is planted at Stephen Ryan’s garden (of Dicksonia Rare Plants Nursery), as a swathe representing a stream sweeping under a bridge – a magical sight.

Autumn is also a great time to plant Japanese Windflowers (Anemone x hybrida), which have pretty pink or white flowers on 1.2m stalks, but – and it is a big but – these spread for miles and so are best planted in isolated beds, rather than allowed to swamp the entire garden. Another useful thug is the Snow Poppy (Eomecon chionantha) from China, with pure white flowers in spring, over lush, scalloped kidney-shaped leaves – a beautiful plant for an isolated spot or in pots, requiring regular watering.

For more fabulous gardening tips, visit our friends at Nurseries Online for great articles, tricks and advice to help you create the most beautiful gardens.

Whilst Sydney’s gardens are particularly significant, being the birth place in a way of the Nation’s first settlement and the first farm on which convicts tried to grow crops, other botanic gardens also have their charms.  Melbourne probably has the best laid out gardens of all, and continual reworking of areas have kept that garden fresh and enticing, with the children’s garden in particular a highlight and must go to for picnics with the kids or young at heart.

Kings Park in Perth, boasts some of the best wildflower massed plantings, and each spring is perhaps the most breathtaking time to visit with paper and button daisies, groups of Kangaroo Paws and Swan River Daisy all flowering en mass.

The Adelaide Botanic Garden has a wonderful glass house, which was built for the Bicentennial, and also some very beautiful flowering gums and xerophytic landscapes.  Its annex garden in the hills also has stunning displays of South African and Australian native plants, all drought resistant, and marvellous picnic spots under trees to get out of the heat.

Of course, Sydney’s annex gardens, one at Mt. Annan, growing just Australian Natives, and the other in the Blue Mountains, which specialises in cold climate plants, are also worth the trip.

For something a little different, if you are in the tropics, Coffs Harbour, Brisbane and Cairns all have spectacular ranges of tropical and sub-tropical plants that make you feel as if you’re in the Garden of Eden.

Well first it is important to decide what type of picnic you are going to have. A very relaxed ground picnic joining together at a designated picnic table perhaps by the beach enjoying a side of barbeque? Or something a little more elegant with chairs, linen cloths, real glasses, plates and cutlery and a special occasion to go with it, tasty portable food is a key to enjoying yourself if you are the host so make it easy to manage and serve. If you are sitting on a rug it will be difficult to eat with utensils so hand held food is fantastic.

What to bring? I love to make gourmet baguettes or flat breads rolled and tied with string or napkins to hold them together. Choose fillings that will stay together such as rare roast beef, slices of cheddar and lettuce. These are the occasions to use up your mustards and jars of handmade chutneys or another great combination is smoked chicken cranberry and brie with simple ice berg lettuce.

Anything that is mini is great, quiches of leg ham, sharp cheese and caramelised onions, pull-apart loaves filled with sundried tomatoes, spinach, parmesan and pesto are ideal to eat with just a napkin and great for the kids to run around with.

Roast chicken is always a favourite. Try marinating the chicken with fresh herbs and garlic, mixed with olive oil and lemon and cooked until golden. Cut this up into portions and serve.

Individual noodle or salad boxes are ideal and easy for travelling and also for managing with unstable sitting. Fill these with glass noodles, shredded chicken or cooked tiger prawns, lots of fresh shredded salad ingredients (e.g. carrot, cabbage and cucumber) and a fresh zesty lime and coriander dressing.

Filo triangles or parcels, baked off the night before are great at room temperature make great finger or substantial hand held food and are easy to use up any leftovers from the previous night.

A picnic cob is a great way to eat on a rug, hollowing out a cob loaf and filling it with your favourite sliced deli meats, cheeses and sliced salad and then cut into wedges… large napkins would be the go for this one.

Barbeques are ideal as you can really enjoy the benefits of wonderfully marinated meats, gourmet sausages or try your own beef rissoles full of fresh herbs, garlic, lemon zest and parmesan with a tablespoon of relish. These are so tasty and can be eaten with a side of salad or in a soft fresh bun.  Seafood is great to barbeque too. Try prawns, skewers of fish and marinated vegetables.

Rice, pasta or grain and vegetable pies/bakes are also great. Slice cleanly when cold making them easy to eat with a napkin or simply with a fork.

Don’t forget about your beverages and always have chilled water or iced punches blending natural fruit juices, with soda water and herbal teas.

For a slightly formal occasion try individual salmon, cream cheese and avocado roulades with a lime and coriander salsa, honey poached chicken, walnut and apple salad and a dessert of meringues, vanilla labne and macerated berries. All these dishes are easily transported and will be a stunner on the plate.

Other dishes I love to throw together for a slightly formal picnic is combinations of pre-cooked flaky buttery pastry tarts filled on the spot with Persian feta, fresh sliced heirloom tomatoes and caramelised shallots. These are great to serve with a salad or as they are. If you need them to stay together a little better, mix in a little egg and bake them for 5 minutes until the egg is set.

I love a good terrine, game, chicken or pork, pistachio and bacon served with spiced fruits or your favourite fig jam. These can be served on any occasion with crusty bread, on crackers, croutons or with a salad on the side.

There is no end to the array of picnic inspiration that you can bring on the day. A great idea is to get everybody to bring a plate or dish and enjoy a wide range of wonderful flavours, a sunny day and a smile.

Ritsurin Garden is one of the best examples in Japan of the style called a ‘stroll garden’, which was typically created as the personal pleasure ground of the ruling elite. The garden was established nearly 400 years ago, but development continued under successive lords for another 100 years. Its setting is particularly beautiful, with the pine-clad slopes of Mount Shiun as a backdrop, thus utilising the important device in Japanese gardens of shakkei, or borrowed landscape.

The garden’s 75 hectares incorporate six lakes and many exquisitely crafted bridges of timber or stone, which are iconic in Japanese gardens. These, and a total of 13 scenic mounds, offer picturesque views over the garden.

The south garden is in the traditional style of the early Edo period, while the north garden, once used for duck hunting, was redesigned in the early 20th century. Artificial islands dot the lakes, some with bonsai-like pines whose branches swoop so far out over the water’s surface that the expert staff must prune them from a rowing boat. Fat koi glimmer in the shallows and on still days the mirror-like surface reflects the surrounding scenery. It’s a soothing garden, where strolling the winding paths becomes a meditative journey that causes the rest of the world to slip away.

The Kikugetsu-tei pavilion is a classic teahouse in the heart of the garden. Named after a Tang Dynasty poem, it translates as the Moon-Scooping Tea pavilion. Stop here to enjoy whisked green tea on the lake’s edge and admire a stand of black pines, their branches pruned into sculptural forms. There are about 1000 pine trees within Ritsurin, all maintained by hand. Other plants are clipped into cubic shapes in the topiary style called hako-zukuri.

Although much of the design focuses on carefully selected and well-positioned rocks, evergreen trees and the way the landscape is shaped – flowers are also venerated for their seasonal display. Spring sees the bright colours of azaleas and rhododendrons dominate, then the revered cherry trees throw out clouds of pink and their blossoms fall like snow. Later, waterlilies, then irises and lotus flowers float above the ponds. In autumn the brilliant red, yellow and orange tones of Japanese maples are luminous, while camellia blooms brighten the scene.

For more fabulous articles on gardens of the from our friends at House & Garden, visit their website http://homes.ninemsn.com.au/house-and-garden/

Last year there was an emphasis on edible plants in many of the displays, with The Lindeman’s Open Garden obviously being the front runner here with its great potted kitchen garden and food tastings throughout the day, accompanied by flavour matched wines.  There were others too that followed this trend…

The Yates garden, for example, had a wonderful veggie patch and potted fruit trees, as did some of the Debco “Achievable” gardens, which is an avenue of smaller gardens created by students.  Even some of the hanging baskets in the Hanging Basket competition sported only herbs or veggies, but perhaps the kitchen and flower garden designed by Vivid for Oasis horticulture, next to the Lindeman’s Open Garden, was my favourite of all in this genre.

The overall winners in the Best in Show 2012, awarded by the City of Melbourne went to two designers,  ‘Nord’, by Marnie Lewis Design and ‘Home.Life’ by the Tress and Shrub growers Victoria.

Other show highlights included the Student Design Competition, with an exciting winning entry going to ‘Eden’ by Ross Uebergang.  The garden by Phillip Johnson Landscapes entitled ‘Equilibrium’ was also a standout and won the Ford Sustainability Award.

An interesting garden was the ‘Garden designed by a kid for kids’, by Adeline Datchin, which picked up a bronze award.  Then there are the quirky kids cubbies, which are raffled and auctioned off to raise money for Kids Under Cover, a youth homelessness charity. What a great idea!

In the magnificent flower hall North Street Flowers picked up the gold medal.  The beauty of the Carlton Gardens and Exhibition Hall in general, all go to make this show one of the top 5 garden shows in the world.

There are many types to choose from, with lemons, mandarins, oranges and limes to name a few.  What you might not know is that now these citrus can all be bought grafted onto dwarfing rootstock, known as flying dragon. Sold as Pip Squeak citrus, they only grow to about ½ the size of traditional rootstocks.

Another great grafting trick is to buy multi-grafted plants that have more than one type of tree grated onto them.  In citrus, they are often sold as ‘Splitzer’ trees, with combinations like lemon and lime or mandarin and orange both being very popular.  But it’s not commonly known that stone fruit can also be multi-grafted, so it’s possible to have peaches and plum combos or nectarine and plumcots, all on the one tree.  These you can find sold as ‘fruit salad trees’.

There are also dwarf peaches, dwarf nectarines (sold as Trixzie® ) dwarf apples and dwarf cherries available.  Flemings Nursery in Monbulk Victoria have a great range. Of course, some trees are just naturally small.  The tree tomato, or Tamarillo, is one such plant.  With either yellow or red fruit that tastes like a cross between passionfruit and tomatoes, and a small mature size of about 4m, they are great in frost free positions.

If you want to branch out, nuts like the self-fertile All-in-One™ almond, hazelnuts inoculated with truffles and even the pink flowered macadamia nut are all novel ideas for the home gardener.  Olives are another nice idea, and can be grown in both pots or espaliered flat against a wall.

WINNER: Guy Harber and Beverley Cooper, Leura, NSW

“This is a beautifully balanced garden,” says judge Wes Fleming. “I applaud home gardeners who use well-positioned plants and trees as the key focus with minimal hard landscaping. Stunning weeping maples are thriving in garden beds, formal walkways are framed by well-maintained but not overly manicured buxus, and layers of garden spill into the open spaces, which are canopied by large trees, making ideal places in which to sit and relax.”

– Wes Fleming, third-generation nurseryman, Fleming’s Nurseries.

2        Medium Garden

WINNER: Kim and Jill Robinson, Grafton, NSW

“The owners of this garden have capitalised on their sub-tropical climate by using a variety of foliage plants that create year-round colour including crotons, bromeliads, cordylines and dracaena,” says Meredith Kirton. “These, coupled with the striking bird’s nest ferns, agave and elephant’s ears, have formed the basis of a texturally exciting garden.”

– Meredith Kirton, horticulturist and author.

3         Pretty Garden

WINNER: Virginia Sheridan, Skye, SA

“This garden has been a triumph of perseverance and clever plant choices over poor soils and difficult growing environments,” says Meredith. “Tough Mediterranean stalwarts like artemesia, salvia, euphorbia, teucrium and succulents such as cotyledons have formed the backbone of the planting palette, but there are many treasures here too. Beautiful local stone has been used throughout to great effect.”

– Meredith Kirton.

4          Edible Garden

WINNER: The Thongsiri Family, Pagewood, NSW

“The variety of plants and the images of a bountiful harvest are extraordinary,” says Dominique Rizzo. “This is an example of a garden that is not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing from a design perspective.”

– Dominique Rizzo, chef and author.

5         Sustainable Garden

WINNER: Ana Nail, Quedjinup, Wa

“This garden sits in harmony with its bush setting,” says Helen Young. “Relying on rainwater, the owners have created a visually appealing garden of mainly local, native species and it thrives with biodiversity and sustainable practices. Local fauna see it as a haven – which it is, for humans, plants and animals alike!”

– Helen Young, H&G gardening expert.

6         Small Garden

WINNER: Jenni Woodruff, Northcote, Victoria

“There is an obvious creativity at work here, which is not surprising given that Jenni is an artist and horticulture student,” says Helen. “It’s a small space, but she has created a sanctuary that appeals to all the senses.” – Helen Young.

7         Entertainer’s Garden

WINNER: Deanne Squire, EarLville, Cairns, Queensland

“This is an entertainer’s paradise where you could easily see your Sundays disappear relaxing by the pool with a few canapés,” says Dominique. “A garden that looks this good with the texture and colour of the foliage, while being sustainable and relying on rainwater, is an example of a well thought-out entertainer’s garden.”

– Dominique Rizzo.

To see more entrants from House and Garden’s Garden of the Year competition click here.