Narrabri Garden Club members attend the national convention

The Narrabri Garden Club’s September meeting was held at Bunnings, where members were updated on the various products available to keep our lawns and gardens in tip top shape.

Our flower competition, which attracts a number of entries each meeting, was won by Lyn Tuckey with a beautiful cream coloured clivia.

Lyn said it lives in a pot, she gives it very little attention, and it looked amazing.

Second was Sue Waugh with an Alstroemeria, and Jan Etheridge took third place with a pretty geranium.

There are so many vibrant new colours out in Geraniums these days, and they are all as hardy as the older original ones Mum and Grandma had in their gardens.

We recently had the pleasure of joining Inner Wheel for lunch at the home of Kath Hamilton.

Wendy McNair gave a floral art demonstration, focusing on some of the sections coming up in the Spring Rose and Flower Show in October.

We learned more about the objectives of Inner Wheel, and enjoyed a delicious finger food lunch and a day of fellowship in Kath’s beautiful garden.

Kath works tirelessly with WIRES, spending countless hours (including when most of us are asleep) feeding and caring for young orphaned kangaroos and other wildlife, as well as poddy lambs on her farm. An amazing lady!

Noeline Kiss, Ronald Hardy, Jenni Hayne and Sue Waugh attended the Garden Clubs of Australia biennial convention at Lake Macquarie in September, and had a very enjoyable week of garden visits, guest speakers, attending the AGM and art exhibitions, and even a cruise on Lake Macquarie, which we were told is one of Australia’s largest salt water lakes, and twice the size of Sydney Harbour.

As well as visits to some beautiful private gardens, and the local Landcare group, a highlight was a trip to the Hunter Region Botanical Gardens where the volunteers do some amazing work to preserve Australia’s unique flora.

The garden was established in 1985 and Kevin Stokes, a founding member and volunteer in all aspects from senior management, garden development and plant propagation, was guest speaker at the AGM.

Other very interesting speakers who imparted their wealth of knowledge were Angie Thomas, horticulturist and author from Yates, David Fripp, a well-known plant specialist and grower of rare and unusual plants, and Costa Georgiadis, who everyone knows from his television appearances and presentations at many garden events nationwide.

The convention is a great opportunity to meet with other gardeners from all over Australia, and epitomises our national club motto, “Friendship through Gardens”.

We are looking forward to our trip to the New England Garden Festival in Armidale on the weekend of November 18 and 19.

We are hearing all about the gardens that will be open, as well as workshops and market stalls that have been organised.

I can probably guarantee the luggage compartment of the coach will be full on the way home.

A very successful open garden day was held last Saturday.

It was a beautiful day, with the garden owners involved reporting a steady stream of visitors throughout the day.

Visitors from Bingara, Moree and Wee Waa were also out enjoying the gardens.

Our thanks to Joan Burrell-Melbourne and her husband John Melbourne, Vanessa and Chris Ryan, and Sally Foster and her team at St Xavier’s Catholic School for participating in the day.

We appreciate the effort involved.

Also, a big thank you to Lyn Tuckey and the Garden Club ladies who provided a delicious morning tea in Joan’s garden.

A reminder that the annual Spring Rose and Flower Show will be held on Saturday 21, at the Bowling Club.

This is only a couple of weeks away now, so to get your schedule, go to the Narrabri Show Facebook page, visit the Tourist Information Centre or contact Wendy or Sue and start planning what flowers and arrangements you may want to exhibit.

If everyone brings a flower or two, we will have an amazing show.

Stewards will be available to advise and assist you with your entries.

Our next general meeting and AGM will be on Wednesday, October 11, commencing at 10am at the Scout Hall in Wukawa Street (see classified ad in Thursday’s Courier).

Members are reminded that membership fees are due at this meeting.

Visitors are most welcome, so bring along a mug and enjoy a cuppa and a morning of friendship through gardens.