Gardening Australia presenter Jane Edmanson has announced her retirement after almost four decades on the show.
Edmanson, who is the last original cast member from the show which began in 1990, announced her decision to retire on Friday night’s episode of the show.
“It’s time. I’m retiring, although I don’t like that word, I am retiring from Gardening Australia, having done it for so many years, and it makes me feel really, really proud and humble,” she told host Costa Georgiadis.
“It’s been a pleasure for me for so many years to present what I do on the programme, but tide’s time, and I will move on and do other things within the horticultural world, and still see you and all the lovely faces on the telly. It’ll be just lovely. But time’s right.”
She said she feels encouraged by the many young people and students embracing horticulture and becoming gardeners, saying “that’s the really important thing.”
“If I can end with one last little thing: keep digging. Keep putting plants in the ground. It doesn’t matter, just keep doing it, and you’ll get so much satisfaction, because it is a lovely, lovely vocation for me for so long, but also for anyone, just as amateur gardeners, to enjoy their garden.”
Prior to her career on the show, Edmanson worked as a school teacher for three years, before changing direction working in a plant nursery in the mid-1970s. She also went to technical college two nights a week.
“I loved it. It was very practical. I just thought, ‘This is the career for me’,” she said in an interview for the ABC.
A decade later while giving an evening talk about native plants, she met pioneering ABC TV gardening presenter Kevin Heinz, who offered her his hosting role on the show Sow What.
She began hosting the Victorian program in 1988 without any media training and soon after the various state gardening programs were brought together to form the ABC’s national show, Gardening Australia.
Edmanson attributed the long-running success of the show to both its audience and the team.
“It’s been a joy for me because of the team of Gardening Australia,” she said.
“People out there only watch us, but they don’t realise that there’s such a lot that goes behind it. The sound people, the cameraman, the producers, all the horticulturalists that are behind it. It’s such a team effort. It’s fantastic. So, you know, hats off to them, too. I’ll miss them.”
While Edmanson is retiring from the show, she is not giving up her passion for plants and people, as she plans to continue volunteering at botanic gardens and giving gardening talks to community groups.
Image: ABC iView
