Elizabeth Swane
Elizabeth Swane is a member of one of Australia’s best-known rose growing families and is the daughter of rosarian Ben Swane. Elizabeth worked at the family nursery, Swane’s Nursery at Dural, for 25 years until its sale in 2000. Today Elizabeth combines a gardening media career with a family business and is a busy mum.
For the past 10 years, she has been a regular gardening presenter on the popular talkback show ‘Weekends with Simon Marnie’ on ABC Radio 702 in Sydney. On the show she is referred to as ”The Rose” as her passion and gardening knowledge includes roses as well as all things gardening!
As well as her work on radio Elizabeth has contributed regular stories and columns for several national gardening magazines including ABC Gardening Australia magazine, Your Garden, Home Beautiful and Burke’s Backyard magazine.
She says it was her late aunt, Valerie Swane, who really inspired her career. She collaborated with Valerie on several of her rose books and also worked on the annual rose mail-order catalogues for Swane’s Nursery for many years. Writing articles on roses and gardening seemed a natural progression.
Elizabeth has also taught students at TAFE at the famous Ryde School of Horticulture.
Currently she is Horticultural Consultant to Burkes Backyard Magazine, and supports her husband in their family business built around hydromulching, revegetation and erosion control. Both are active community gardeners, supporting local schools in grounds improvement programs.
Life is busy for this mother of two girls, but there is always time for family, friends and the garden. Her best gardening tip: “ Always listen to your father!”
As a committee member for HMA NSW Elizabeth has assisted with the Laurels Awards, as Chair of Judges and on the Judging Panel. She has also organised several memorable educational trips to beautiful gardens and nurseries in Berry, Oberon, Rydal, Bathurst, Hills District Sydney and a behind the scenes tour of The Sydney Royal Easter Show.