Gloucester Garden Club held its March meeting in the garden of Carmen Blanch.
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What a riot of colour it proved to be with large garden beds, numerous rooms, quirky buildings and many points of interest. One striking feature is a large female form crafted by Carmen using only old man's beard or Tillandsia usneoides.
The Blanch family moved to the site in 2010 but two years ago the whole garden was flooded and many trees and plants were lost. It has taken Carmen quite a while to get her mojo back after such a big disappointment but what a wonderful job she has done in restoring this lovely spacious garden. Thank you, Sharon, for sharing it with us.
Robyn Bible from North Richmond and a member of the Australian Geranium Society was our guest speaker. Specialising in geraniums for more than 50 years Robyn was a fount of knowledge.
The first point to be cleared up was the difference between geraniums and pelargoniums and the key is the shape of the seed pod: for geraniums the seed pod is like a crane's bill but a stork's bill in a pelargonium. At the end of the day, geranium is the commonly used term.
Where do they come from? Well, all over the world but the majority are from South Africa though Australia can lay claim to two varieties.
There are thousands of varieties with even more hybrid forms, a cross between an ivy and bush geraniums, being developed all the time.
It was a fascinating and very informative talk and members were able to purchase plants that Robyn had brought along to demonstrate the wide variety and beauty of this amazing plant genus.
The flower competition was very well supported with Del O'Hare taking out first place with a very large dahlia; Sharon Blanch second with a colourful Brazilian plume flower and Anne Williamson third with a miniature rose.
Dot Harris took out first place in the vegetable competition with a collection of figs; Garth Rodham second with a table queen squash and tied for third place were Bev Jackson with a large pumpkin and Sharyn Blanch with pecans.
Our next meeting on April 24 will be in the garden of Anne and John Williamson in Barrington. Morning tea at 10am allows time for voting in the competitions and checking out the Trading Table before the meeting starts at 10.15am. Make sure you bring a hat as we will not be under cover. Our guest speaker will be Shannon Aylett from Rocky Hill Nursery. We look forward to seeing you there.
