‘Show gardens live only to be seen for a short amount of time, and if it isn’t seen… did it exist?’ asks Sarah Tulloch, an emerging designer who was due to showcase her student landscape at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show this week. Her design was titled ‘Alpine Calm’, where moulded snow gums gave way to a carpet of small plants and native grasses in an urban courtyard. It would look like springtime in the Victorian alps after snow had thawed.

As Sarah says, ‘different creativity has different end points,’ so for a lot of the installation gardens, this year’s MIFGS was the flashpoint of their existence, the entirety of their lifespan.

If all had gone according to plan, today would have been the second day of the Melbourne International Flower and Garden show. So instead, we bring a little bit of it to you.

Photo – Nicole Pitcon.

The Digger’s Club pumpkin pile! Photo – Nicole Pitcon.

Jac Semmler, Ornamental Category Manager at The Diggers Club. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files.

Vegetables nestled among the foliage. Photo – Nicole Pitcon.

Jac adn The rest of The Digger’s Club team installed a mini version of their proposed garden at HQ, and photographed it! Photo – Nicole Pitcon.

A bed. of native perennials sits alongside a productive garden. Photo – Nicole Pitcon.

Walking through the native grasslands and wildlife that would make up ‘It’s Our Time’. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

The Yarraview garden, where Phillip and team planned their installation. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Phillip Withers and team. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

At Point Addis. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

The window of Vasette’s iconic Fitzroy store. Photo – Armelle Habib.

An autumnal arrangement. Photo – Courtesy of Vasette Flowers.

Inside the Fitzroy store, where all the magic happens! Photo – Armelle Habib.

‘Amongst The Trees’ project, in New South Wales. Photo – Peter Crumpton.

The ‘Curved Oasis’ project in New South Wales. Photo – Peter Crumpton.

‘North Adelaide SA Project’ in collaboration with Nexus Design. Photo – Jonathan Van Der Knaap.

‘North Adelaide SA Project’ in collaboration with Nexus Design. Photo – Jonathan Van Der Knaap.

The Acre Landscape Architecture team from left to right: Tari Northwood, Pip Byrne, Mitch Żurel, Brett Robinson. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

A contemporary beach house in Victoria. Photo – Derek Swalwell.

Hard and soft elements of landscaping combine. Photo – Derek Swalwell.