The floriferous gardener
Visionary plant woman Ruth Irving touched the lives of thousands of South Australians through her storybook garden and wedding venue, Al Ru Farm. Just weeks prior to her passing on August 11, Ruth sat down with writer Ben Kelly as she reflected on her life in the garden.
It’s a brisk and damp winter’s day at Al Ru Farm and yet the garden is putting on a show of colour that seems to defy the season’s icy grasp.
Fluorescent orange spires of red-hot pokers reach for the sky, yellow daffodils glow in the spotlight of the winter sun, and lipstick-red bougainvillea petals flow from a verandah.
The garden’s owner Ruth Irving, 71, would normally have greeted us in her garden. Sadly, today, she is indoors receiving palliative care for an aggressive cancer that was detected less than a year ago.
When SALIFE is introduced to Ruth – who insisted we pay her a visit despite her condition – it quickly becomes clear that much like the defiantly vibrant garden outside her window, her ebullient personality hasn’t lost its shine.
“If I don’t wake up tomorrow, that’s fine,” says Ruth.
“I have never feared death and I think that’s because I’ve lived every day fully. The fact that I’ve had all this extra time is a blessing.”
From her bed, Ruth has a prime view of the garden’s greenery through three tall windows and a set of French doors.
“When this extension was being built, I put myself down on the ground, where the bed would be, and I thought, ‘I will need more windows’. It is wonderful and fortuitous that I spend my last time here.”
Ruth and her husband, Alan Irving purchased the 52-hectare farm and cottage in 1981. Ruth turned the sparse, dry landscape into a garden and in 1992 opened it to the public as part of the inaugural year of the state’s garden scheme. Al Ru Farm has opened its gates every year since, making it one of the longest-running open gardens in Australia.
You might like
Tears fall when Ruth explains the prognosis from her oncologist. It is unlikely she will be around on September 21, when Al Ru Farm will again open to the public for Open Gardens SA. But Ruth smiles and insists they are not tears of sadness.
“I’m crying because of the joy of it. I’ve got a wonderful village around me and I’ve had a fabulous life. Focus on what you can change, and if you can’t do anything about it, why bother spending a minute on it?”
Despite being bed-bound, Ruth is still calling the shots in preparation for her open day, as her long-time gardeners are busy preparing the grounds.
“Even now, I’m still trying to pull out weeds. I don’t wear gloves, so I can stay in contact with the soil. I park myself on chairs as I go along, look at things, and that’s really great,” she says.
“I’m a Taurean, so I’m a hedonist. I love the phrase ‘gilding the lily’ – my philosophy is to do more of the things that are fabulous in life.
“The type of gardener I am is overblown and full of joy; more flowers are always better. I do need a bit of structure, but I am a very floriferous gardener.”
Over the past 44 years, Ruth, a former antiques dealer, and Alan, a retired veterinary surgeon, have poured their heart and soul into the grounds. A visionary gardener, Ruth has created an inspirational garden that is gorgeous in all seasons, designed so that each month has a hero variety on show.
Ruth’s glass-half-full perspective on life – and love of gardening – began at a young age. She was born in Germany to parents who met on a breadline in post-war Cologne, each having lost their respective spouses in World War II.
Ruth was eight years old when her family emigrated to Australia. At first, her family lived in a migrant reception centre, housed in a former military barracks. “I had the best time there,” Ruth recalls.
Ruth ended up in Modbury and met Alan when she approached his veterinary surgery to ask for a job. They have since enjoyed a life full of travel, gardening, and projects on their property.
“I’ve been so many different things, but gardening has always been in my life. My mum and I used to walk around the garden every day. In my holidays, my parents would send me to a lady in the countryside where she let me keep my own little garden.
“I’ve gained so much pleasure from gardens; both mine and others. If you can take on gardening with the fresh air and the sunshine, you will have a better life. No amount of money will make you truly happy; life is about the joy you get out of it.”
Ruth’s career in antiques facilitated adventures abroad with her scribe, Alan, in tow. The house and garden are reflections of Ruth’s personality and her life, inspired by the French countryside and grand English homesteads.
Subscribe for updates
On her travels, Ruth has taken deep interest in how other countries approach horticulture and integrate trees, plants and green spaces into cities. Above all, the property is imbued with her infectious philosophy that ‘more is more’.
Seeing Alan’s four children grow up and develop their own lives has given Ruth an “inordinate amount of pleasure”. When Ruth and Alan first moved into their farmhouse, it was a humble cottage. They used the laundry and garage as additional bedrooms for family members, with one outdoor toilet between them. “And it was the best time ever.”
Over the years, they have built on to the cottage to the point where the new home completely encapsulates the old.
When Ruth and Alan retired from their respective businesses, they began hosting weddings to fund the upkeep and maintenance of the grounds. Al Ru Farm now offers a range of accommodation options, too.
“I love sharing our property for the weddings. They have been a mainstay because they help support all the people who make our garden possible.”
The garden has been Ruth’s life’s work. Over the years, sections have been curated with weddings in mind, creating myriad areas for ceremonies and photographs. There’s a wisteria arbour, lawns with perennial borders, and a lily pond. Garden paths wind through five whimsical hectares full of plants, with interest around every corner.
“Gardening is a common denominator; it’s a great equaliser. I have friends and acquaintances from all walks of life through gardening, it’s amazing,” she says.
Ruth fought to keep her garden alive during the millennial drought and there has been a constant battle to stop wildlife eating the roses. The couple encouraged native owls to nest on the property by planting pine trees for habitat, while Ruth’s many guinea fowl peck around the gardens. And over the years, Ruth and Alan have kept a long line of giant-yet-placid English mastiffs which are known to follow them around the gardens.
Each year, Ruth orders thousands of bulbs to plant in readiness for her spring open garden. This year, she admits that she “accidentally” doubled the order for a variety of Dutch iris that she has never planted before.
“Bless these new varieties which I’ve never had in my garden because I’ve had about 10 of them pop up already and they shouldn’t be out until September.
“Just enough that I can see what they look like. Isn’t that fabulous?”
Countless brides and grooms have tied the knot on the picturesque grounds over the years, and Al Ru Farm will continue to operate as a wedding and accommodation venue. This ongoing enjoyment of the gardens is Ruth’s legacy.
“Alan and I are a great team. He has allowed me to go forth and conquer. My philosophy has been to employ people who make me shine and we’ve created a village around us with staff and friends,” says Ruth.
“It’s been a sheer joy to be part of the open gardens. I want this one to be special. One time, the rain came down in sheets, and we still had 169 visitors. It’s given me so much joy to be part of it, and it’s such a wonderful thing for South Australia.
“Sharing my garden has been a joy and I hope Al Ru Farm has given pleasure to our many visitors, all of them.
“My philosophy is to suck the marrow out of everything because every day is fabulous if you choose it to be.
“You could make your life all about the negative, but it doesn’t have to be. You can just enjoy it. Rain or shine, it’s all wonderful.”
For Alan, Al Ru Farm is a living testament to Ruth’s life, and encapsulates decades of memories. Work is underway to create a not-for-profit board, the Al Ru Foundation, which will shape the future of the gardens and venue in perpetuity.
“The property symbolises Ruth and I,” says Alan.
It’s not the closing of a chapter, it’s the beginning of something extraordinary.”
With the arrival of spring, thousands of flowers will erupt to create a fitting tribute that epitomises Ruth’s life ethos.
This article first appeared in the September 2025 issue of SALIFE magazine.
