We started off the month with a bust tour from ‘The Gap
Garden Club’, we don’t usually accept visitors prior to an ‘Open Garden’ but
decided to make an exception as we hold this club in high regard as I have
given several presentations to them over the years and we were always well
received.
The visit went well and they all enjoyed the garden and went
home with nice plants.
Then everything in November related to our 20th
and last Open Garden.
We decided that this year would be our last full Open
Garden, if only people knew how much work was involved in opening, they would
be shocked.
We may have a couple of plant sale days but nothing like a
big opening.
Another reason is like us our helpers are getting older and
it’s not fair on them to continue.
Judy works for month’s prior preparing plants and I like the
garden perfect for the opening.
The weather is always a worry, too wet, too dry, too hot.
This year we opened in a dry spell and had bad winds for
several weeks prior to opening.
Organizing a coffee van, flyers. Insurance, portable toilet,
gazebo, chairs, tables, letters to garden clubs, newspapers, individuals,
Facebook Garden pages ect, then Judy prepares drinks and food for our helpers
is all part of opening.
Pretty much exhausted even before we open.
Saturday the 19th November 2022 arrived and up at
4 am to do last minute preparation.
Around 8 am a queue starts and gets bigger and bigger so we
start to let the visitors in and of course they all head towards the plants for
sale, most were pleasantly surprised that this year we had EFTPOS payment and
it was used a lot, Saturday morning was frantic with plant buyers and 100s of
questions.
Up again at 4 am on Sunday morning to replenish stock of
plants as so many went on Saturday.
Sunday was quiet as the weather forecast was for extreme
heat and storms, well the heat did not get to the expected maximum and the
storm came one hour after we closed and what a welcome relief that was.
Overall, we had a tad under 700 visitors to our garden, we
were happy with that even though it was below average.
The week after we had a small group visit from the ‘Mt
Crosby Garden Club’.
Finally for November we went to the ‘Tropical Foliage
Festival’ and of course came home with some new plants.
It’s all over now and just finished the clean up two weeks
after, now to get ready for a family Christmas.
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