Busy season closes for garden club
The busy and enjoyable 2017 year for the Warragul and District Garden Club ended with a presentation from Department of Primary Industries and Environment on weed control, two trips to botanic gardens and a Christmas lunch.
Bob Wilson for DPIE at Leongatha used a slide presentation to describe Victoria’s unwanted weeds and encouraged members to report any that could be exotic.
There is always a need to look out for potential new plants that could cause problems like those of Paterson’s Curse and Water Hyacinth. This was a most interesting session.
A large group of members, added to by nine members of Pakenham Probus, had a great day out, first at Mornington Rose Garden, followed by a stop at Gardenworld.
At Mornington club members were treated to a fine morning tea by the ‘Friends of the Garden’ and the tour around the garden of some 4000 roses was outstanding.
At Gardenworld the club had a talk on Hydroponics and then members attempted to fill the luggage department of the bus with their many purchases.
A smaller group car-pooled for a visit to the Burnley Gardens, which are on campus at the horticultural school of Melbourne University. Established in the 1850s, they represent some of the oldest trees planted in Victoria.
Once again the ‘Friends’ group were hosts as members toured the gardens and before leaving, were shown the experimental roof garden at the top of the main administrative building.
Almost half of the membership found time amongst everyone’s busy Christmas and volunteer schedules to get together at the Downtowner for the annual end-of-year lunch.
Annual competition prizes were awarded, with Aileen White taking home the Shield for the most points for the third successive year. Prizes in the various categories were as follows: — Section A (Flowers): 1st Aileen White ,2nd Heather Coustley. Section B (Floral Art): Equal First Aileen White and Judy Butler. Section C (Pot Plants, Containers, Bulbs Etc.): 1st Aileen White, 2nd Heather Coustley. Section D (Garden Produce): 1st Carol Burns, 2nd Judy Butler.
The first meeting of the New Year will be on January 22.
Full details and much more gardening information can be found on the web site www.warragulgardenclub.com. New members are always welcome.