The final meeting of Gloucester Garden Club for 2018 last Wednesday, was at Sharyn and Albert Blanch’s home high up on Irrawang Road. Early in the day the magnificent view from the hilltop was almost fully obscured by the ominous storm clouds, but fortunately the sky eventually began to clear and revealed the beautiful Gloucester and Barrington valleys below.
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The extensive garden terraces have benefited enormously from the recent rain and were full of colour, with the towering Jacarandas, a pink flowering Cape Chestnut (calodendrum capense) and Sharyn’s favourite tree, a Magnolia stellata, putting on a beautiful show. Sharyn is the gardener while Albert likes the vege garden and builds things like the dam-like “pond”, moves loads of soil, and relocates the various wonderful pieces of architectural heritage in the garden.
Members presented Sharyn with a lovely climbing clematis which no doubt will do well in this beautiful garden. Our sincere thanks go to the Blanch’s for hosting our end of year meeting. The Christmas theme, saw a very well supported parade of bright, imaginative and amusing Christmas hats. Anne Williamson won the lady’s prize for her Christmas tree on a hat, and Robert Mendham’s amazing creation won the gent’s prize.
Terry Hardwick won the $20 membership draw and lucky door prizes went to Peter Jackson, John Woodford, Lyn Edwards and Judy Caldwell. Eight lucky people won raffle prizes and Carmel Carpenter won a garden planter in the ”guess what’s in the mystery box” competition. The we wandered around the garden in teams of four to find the hidden gems for the “spot-o” contest.
Members enjoyed a lovely morning tea provided by the committee, with Christmas fruit cake made by Kerry Marston and decorated shortbread biscuits. Lunch was a smorgasbord of cold meats, salads and platters of fresh seasonal fruits.
Judy Holstein and Shirley Hazell will attend to the Narraweema Garden next month. There are no December or January meetings. Due to the heat often experienced in February, the first meeting for 2019, will be on Wednesday, February 27, at Barrington Hall. We look forward to seeing members, friends and visitors next year.
