About Us

Sunshine Iris Nursery is situated just east of the small town of Lockhart in the Riverina, Australia on the cropping property "Wargam".

Bolong Farms Iris Farm became Sunshine Iris Nursery in March 2013 when my mother (Mandy) and myself (Elissa) purchased the business from the Croker/Simmons family at The Rock. We moved the 20 000 plus daylilies and irises to the cropping property "Quamby", located 8km north of Lockhart.  The irises were then moved again in 2015 to "Wargam" where Mandy lives and she become key caretaker.  We are definitely not keen to move them again!

Both mum and myself have been very keen gardeners our whole lives and I have worked as an agronomist the past 7 years (and still do), both of which has definitely helped us establish the plants (although I think there will be a lot to learn about irises for many years to come!).

As far as I can find out, Sunshine Iris Nursery was first established in the early 90s by a Dutch gentleman in Lavington, NSW. Details are sketchy about this period of the nursery's life. Carolyn Young from Jindera, NSW was the next owner and owned the nursery for about 5 years before selling to Randall Lieschke from Henty in 1998. Randall ran the nursery as Yesteryear Iris and Daylily Nursery for 9 years and speaks very fondly of it. In fact, I think he was quite sad to sell it and is still a great source of information for me today, providing greatly appreciated advice by email. Randall has definitely inspired me!

Tory Simmons and her father Peter Croker bought the nursery from Randall in 2007 as an addition to their Hereford farm and the plants were moved to The Rock, NSW. Tory says the nursery helped to drought proof their farm during those few tough years. It was also flooded twice, in October 2011 and in March 2012, showing just how resilient the plants are!

The nursery has grown and changed over the years with additions of new varieties and changes in species with each new owner.

Sunshine Iris Nursery currently have over 300 varieties of iris flowers and over 100 varieties of daylilies. We specialise in the older vintage bearded iris varieties including tall bearded, median bearded and dwarf bearded iris. Our daylilies include large, doubles, spider types and miniature varieties. We also plan to introduce a selection of the newest bearded iris from breeders around the world.

Read more about our plants for information on the types of iris flowers and daylilies.

Our plants are available for purchase online all year round. Arrival of your plants may be delayed during the bloom period. Sunshine Iris Nursery is also open for orders and viewing during the bloom period in October every year. We are open Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th October 2014, coinciding with Lockhart's Spirit of the Land Festival. Other times, by appointment. We would love for you to come and visit us!

Please like our Facebook page to keep up-to-date with opening times and other special events.

For more information about our town of Lockhart, please visit our local shire council page www.lockhart.nsw.gov.au and local tourism page www.lockhartshiretourism.com.au

Read more about us in "A Dream In Bloom" as featured in The Land newspaper on 21st December 2014.