The inaugural garden show on the weekend was a success. Many thanks to the garden owners and the volunteers. The gardens were well attended by visitors on both Saturday and Sunday.

Apart from promoting gardening for a healthier lifestyle, this project also supports charitable causes such as CanAssist, Riding for the Disabled and NALAG.

Please let us know how we went by completing this simple survey. Click the link below.

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Author: Jane Munro.  

After an exceptionally harsh winter, our spectacular gardeners are hard at work preparing for the open garden weekend of the 13^th and 14^th of October. I visited the six gardens this week for a status update.

All of our gardeners had put in the hard yards before winter, mulching extensively, and that has paid off with frost damage mitigated to the maximum extent.

Hillgrove House Garden

At Hillgrove House the perennial shrubs and trees are looking elegant and serene. The native garden is preparing for flowering action. Delightful splashes of colour from flowering ornamentals add points of interest without distracting from the integrity of the garden as a whole. The formal rose garden is in excellent shape. The roses have been pruned, mulched and well fed. Fresh glossy foliage is appearing with promise of abundant blooms come October. The native plantings have progressed and should be at their peak flowering in October as well.

The Moffat Garden

At the Moffatt garden, the native plants are thriving side by side with a selection of exotic ornamentals. I’m impressed with how light and shade are balanced in this garden, enabling a variety of plants to flourish and bloom beneath the canopy of stately eucalypts. The unusual colours of some of the natives’ flowers are striking against their silvery foliage. Sprays of native orchid buds are appearing, and the new, bright green fronds of the birds nest ferns and kangaroo paws, are popping out of the earth everywhere.

Oakey Creek Garden

The Strachan garden at Oakey Creek is bursting with spring bulbs, creating a favourite, classic garden vista with naturalised carpets of bright golden daffodils under bare deciduous trees. Deb has planted many varieties of bulbs with different flowering times, so the gorgeous display and will continue in waves over the coming weeks. Ornamental fruit trees are in full robust bud. The many varieties of hellebores are demurely displaying their pretty faces in the shady garden areas, while vibrant pansies and ranunculi are showing off their bright colours in the sunnier spots.

The Toole Garden

Claire Toole has continued her formidable gardening schedule, adding new plants and other interesting and inventive features to complement the existing design and taking the garden from strength to strength. You will be captivated by the birch walk with its pebbled pathway and archway, and the lovely simplicity of the brick edged garden beds which have been continued in some newly planted areas. The atmosphere is utterly relaxing, and you will enjoy your journey through its wide open spaces, inviting pathways and hidden places.

The Livingstone-Blevins Garden

The Livingstone-Blevins garden is emerging from winter with beautiful displays of hellebores and snowdrops. Dozens of irises are sending up spikes of fat buds and the well-pruned roses are preparing to take off with their foliage springing into life. In the shaded front garden, tender begonias have survived the harsh winter under their heaped mounds of protective mulch, and their green shoots are reaching skywards. The deep blue foliage and bright blue flowers of the Ajuga groundcover create a rich carpet under the crabapple tree which is will soon be displaying its splendid pink blossoms.

The Shearstone Garden

Shearstone’s garden is looking unexpectedly green and spring is in full swing. The trees are coming into leaf and all the various groundcovers are forming lush carpets along pathways and retaining walls. The dry stone walls are looking magnificent, their rich colours enhanced by the spring sunshine. Brightly coloured flowering annuals are dotted here and there. The whole garden has survived the winter very well and that seems to have given it a head start coming into the growing season.

Buying your ticket.

Visitors to the Mudgee Garden Spectacular can purchase an entry ticket at the gate of each garden during the event – we accept cash only.  Tickets for all gardens or any individual garden are available.

You may also choose to buy your ticket online. This facility is available now.

In a club meeting last week, Chair Garry Connelly unveiled the brochure for the Mudgee Garden Spectacular.

To download the brochure, please click here.

Many thanks to Outback Press, Coolah NSW for donating the printing of the brochure.