Spotlight | Caitlyn Mason, Norwood Roses
An award-winning gardener who still claims to be an amateur.
Published on 24 October 2019
Photography by Morgan Smith
Caitlyn Mason recently won the First Time Entrant prize during the Carnival of Flowers. Her stunning cottage garden caught our attention so much so that we broke our own Spotlight rule about featuring local businesses — Catlyn is actually a nurse, and Norwood Roses is her hobby (and home), but we loved her story so much we wanted to share it anyway.
As well as taking out the prize for first timers, Norwood Roses also came second in the Cottage Garden category and was awarded the Reg O’Shea Encouragement Award. Catlyn spends about 20 hours a week in her garden, and we popped over recently on a rainy morning to not be even remotely helpful.
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first things first: why Toowoomba?
I’ve lived in the UK, Sydney, America and returned to Toowoomba in 2015. My parents grew up here and I returned in 2015 because this feels like home. I remember living in Sydney and coming home for the holidays; my family lived in the Mort Estate and at that time there was a coffee roaster down the road and I can’t tell you what joy it brought to me waking up to coffee roasting and listening to the trains as they came in.
In all seriousness, Toowoomba is close to everything. It doesn’t take an hour to get anywhere, we have four seasons (albeit mild), we are the FLOWER CAPITAL, we have historical buildings, red soil and if it rained… huzzah what more could I ask for?
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What is Norwood Roses?
Norwood Roses is my home. I bought an old shop/house in 2016. It was originally built in 1900 and burned down after a fire. It was rebuilt in 1923 when corner stores were a mainstay. The shop had a live-in shopkeeper who sold general items like cigarettes and tobacco. When I first brought the property, I exhausted all avenues trying to find the original shop name -- it was either the Corner Store or the Bell Store. I never did find out definitively so I named the building after a street name and my love of roses.
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What have you learned about toowoomba since you’ve been back?
I learned that it doesn’t matter what your niche/hobby/love is, there is probably someone out there who shares that love with you. I just happen to have a love that is shared by many people. I have learned that gardening is a cross-generational past time and that there are so many young people that are into it, which is great!
I guess I have learned that my garden has unified people; I had beautiful people that came to visit during the Chronicle Garden Competition that could no longer garden because of their health and it was so special for me to share what I sometimes find a solitary past time. Equally, I had young people who loved flowers and photography coming too! Or others who had just bought their first home who wanted ideas on what they could do with their space.
What does an average day look like for you?
I work as a nurse and when I’m not working you’ll find me barefoot in the garden without gloves on and nails full of dirt. As a gardener I’m forever looking ahead; my garden is the opposite of low maintenance, things get moved around, taken out, dead headed constantly, every season it looks constantly different and that all takes A LOT of work. Right now I’m in the midst of dahlia planting, staking and labelling. But in two weeks my cosmo seedlings will be ready to plant out, so again I’ll be finding spots for them. Every week is different, but needless to say my spare time is spent outside.
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What does your ideal Toowoomba weekend look like?
Golly gosh, I like to accomplish things so ideally I would like to get all my jobs done that I set out to do. That never happens as an eternal optimist. This weekend if I could get my dahlia beds prepped and planted, that would be ideal.
In autumn the garden slows down because I’m looking ahead to winter and there’s only spring prep to do then. So I love to go to Ravensbourne for a night -- read, walk, have long baths and eat all meals at Emeraude. I’ve done this once, but I will do it again! I’m also obsessed with a show called Salvage Hunters so I would go hunting for unique pieces of furniture at the swap meet and church cent sales. OR (ok there are so many things I like to do in Toowoomba!) I go on a mission and end up going to all the nurseries my loop consists of: Springs, Sungrown, Coroneos and True Blue. I also do this so I can hunt out a bargain or find that rare thing I’ve never seen before. If it’s raining, you might find me plant shopping online. I like to do this. A lot. Mail order plants? Who would have thought?
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FAVOURITE WEEKEND SPOT TO:
PERK UP: Surrounded by good friends and listening to Jacques Parrot Van Lill on the rooftop of Muller Brothers. Coffee also. I’m a total 7/11 fan, partly because it’s convenient for me and it’s $2. SAY WHAT. They also don’t bat an eyelid when I come in with my porcelain coffee mug without a lid because that is who I am as a person. Also, they ran a great campaign where if you brought your own coffee mug then they gave you a free coffee and I am hoping they see my resolve to their campaign and run this again! Because, how good is it for the planet — and free coffee... hoorah.
RELAX: For me it’s gardening and when I can’t garden any more, I like to go for walks and snoop at other people’s gardens from the footpath and lap up the historical homes we have in Toowoomba. This is what I do on a Sunday afternoon to wind down from life; this and visits to Laurel Bank Park (especially during the lead up to the Carnival of Flowers so I can compare progress against their garden)!
EAT: I’ve already mentioned Emeraude, so if you haven’t tried The Everest Spice Tandoori THEN YOU ARE MISSING OUT. Their butter chicken is the nectar of the gods. Seriously, I could have this as my last meal. Classic, but always good is Sofra. I don’t make friends with salad but they have this tandoori chicken and haloumi extravaganza and it is for me. Gip’s is also for me, ILY. I love their sweet potato gnocchi covered in burnt butter sage sauce.
INDULGE: If I was indulging, because I spend all my money on plants, I’d head to Ivy Designer Collections and Florence & Marabel and buy myself some of their heavenly clothes. Who is this? one might say, when they see me out of my usual denim overall dress. I would say someone fabulous. But honestly, I could dress top-to-toe from both of these boutiques erryday. I’d also get a lil microdermabrasion from The Bradford Clinic and buy the best serum possible from Mecca and just lather my face in its silky goodness.
SHOP: OK, two other places to get plants from. 1. the Cobb & Co markets. There is a heaven man who sells dahlia tubers. Also, PCYC Markets. They have some really good perennial stores and they are cheap. Some of my rarest, old fashioned heritage plants have come from there!
CATCH UP: I should do this more, but I think it's nice to pick some flowers from the garden, grab a pastry from The Baker’s Duck who has a store at the Cobb & Co markets and visit a friend in their home. If you’re lucky I might even throw in a 7/11 coffee.
BE INSPIRED: I am a Instagram nerd. I have so many ideas from gardens across the globe all via Instagram. Boyce Gardens when their hydrangeas are out; I have to control myself not to be inspired to transplant them into my garden. JOKES, but they are beautiful. I love just walking and driving around town. You might see a plant in flower or an interesting brick path and think oh I love that AND I MUST HAVE YOU. Common theme here is a plant collecting/stamped clay brick obsession.
