Nature lovers will be in for a treat this Saturday and Sunday as the Down-to-Earth Inverell Garden Group hosts their third annual open garden weekend.
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A feature of the Sapphire City Festival, the event will showcase three local gardens to raise funds for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter service.
This year Rosemarie Murray and Michael Burley’s ‘Roseberry Heights’ on 63 Dodds Lane, Elsmore, will be open to the public, along with 4 Tullochard East Road, owned by Janelle and Robert Kimmence, and Tess and James Newmarch’s ‘Osterley’ on 271 Old Bundarra Road.
“Our gardens this year are very different to each other,” organiser Susan Dolby said.
“Rosemarie and Michael’s garden is a very new garden and is an inspiration to those just establishing a garden; Janelle and Robert’s is a huge, child-friendly garden which enjoys a rather unique micro-climate with some unusual plantings for this area, and Tess and James’ garden is a beautiful established garden, renowned for its heritage roses.”
She said Inverell’s gardens were at their best at this time of year.
“The recent much-needed rain has given all the plants, not to mention the owners of our open gardens, a real boost,” Susan said.
“We are hoping for a good weekend weather wise – the forecast is looking good: warm days with the possibility of some rain overnight.”
A new feature this year is the introduction of the Jill Brown Memorial Garden Artist of the Year competition, a fundraiser for the NSW Farmer’s Drought Relief Fund.
Jill Brown was one of the founding organisers of the garden group, and passed away unexpectedly in July 2017.
As her daughter, Susan felt the competition was a fitting tribute.
“My mother loved gardens and art. She was an active member of the Inverell Art Society for several years. An event which combined Gardens, Art and raising money for drought relief seemed the perfect way to honour her memory as my parents lived their whole lives on the land until they retired to Inverell in 2001,” she said.
Conceived by Tess, the competition will run from 10am-2.30pm at Osterley on Saturday and Sunday.
Artists are invited to produce an artwork in any medium within four hours. Entry is $10 per person.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Support Group will be hold a barbecue at Janelle and Robert Kimmence’s Tullochard East Road garden, while the Red Cross will cater morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea at Osterley.
Tea, coffee, cold water, biscuits and slices will also be provided by the Down-to-Earth Garden Group at Roseberry Heights.
There will be gold coin collection boxes at each location for the NSW Farmers Drought Relief fund.
Inverell Home Support (formerly HACC) will be providing a bus for transport on the Saturday for $5 per passenger. Leaving from Turnham carpark (opposite the library) at 9.30am, the bus will visit Roseberry Heights first, stop by Tullochard East Road for lunch and then Osterley in the afternoon. Approximately an hour and a half will be spent at each garden.
Anyone who wants to travel on the bus must be registered with Inverell Home Support. Call Kay and Geoff on 67213611 or 0429175866 to book a seat.
For further information on the Artist of the Year competition, phone Tess on 0428 669 507.
The gardens will be open between 10am-4pm on Saturday and Sunday, October 26-27. Entry for each property is $3 for adults, $2 for children aged between 5-16 years and free for children under 5-years-old.
Brochures (including a map) are available from the Tourist Information Centre, Best Nursery and House to Home Nursery. For further information, check out the Down-to-Earth Inverell Garden Group Facebook page or phone Susan on 0448 221 250 or 6722 2125.
