Jane Edmanson Bids Farewell After a Lifetime in Bloom
It’s not every day that someone steps away from a role they’ve defined for nearly four decades, but that’s exactly what’s happening with Jane Edmanson. After 38 years with the ABC and being one of the founding faces of Gardening Australia, Jane is finally hanging up her much-loved gardening hat — though she makes it very clear she’s not ready for the word “retirement.”
Jane’s journey into gardening wasn’t as smooth as the lush green landscapes she later helped Australians cultivate. She actually began her career as a school teacher, but it didn’t take long for her to realise that her heart was firmly planted in the soil. The mid-1970s weren’t the most welcoming time for women in plant nurseries, and she recalls being turned away repeatedly. After ringing 25 nurseries, one eventually gave her a chance, and that opportunity became the foundation of her lifelong calling.
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From there, she immersed herself fully — working every plant bench possible, studying at technical college at night, and slowly building a deep, hands-on understanding of both plants and people. That passion set the stage for a serendipitous moment that would change everything. At a simple evening talk about native plants, she crossed paths with TV gardening pioneer Kevin Heinze. Impressed by her knowledge and natural ability to explain things, he offered her his hosting role — something she initially thought was a joke. But that “lucky moment,” as she calls it, became the start of her media career in 1988.
Two years later, Gardening Australia launched as a national program, and Jane became one of its original presenters. Over the decades, she worked alongside icons like Peter Cundall, whose no-nonsense charm helped shape the show. More recently, she’s celebrated the infectious energy of Costa Georgiadis, who she says has reinvigorated the show and attracted a passionate younger audience.
Through thousands of episodes, Jane’s favourite moments have always been the ones rooted in human connection — meeting gardeners with stories etched into the soil of their backyards, from sweet-potato growers longing for home to refugees turning fresh produce into feasts that honoured their heritage. To her, gardens have never just been about plants; they’ve been gateways into people’s lives.
Even as she steps away from the weekly rhythm of the show, her work is far from finished. She insists she’s not retiring, just shifting direction. She’ll continue volunteering, speaking to community groups, and nurturing the same love for gardening that carried her through all these years.
Her message remains simple, warm, and wonderfully Jane: keep digging, keep planting, and keep stepping outside to notice what’s growing — because the garden has a way of reconnecting us with both nature and ourselves.
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