59 members left bright and early for our trip to Kinglake. As soon as we left the suburbs the lack of rain became apparent as we passed dry paddocks and near empty dams.
Our first stop was Antique Perennials in Kinglake. The 2009 fires completely wiped them out, but they have managed to survive and their display gardens are flourishing once again. We were shown around the garden and able to identify any of the plants we would like to purchase. We then entered the nursery section to choose our plants, all our purchases (bagged and named) were then loaded onto the bus.
Toolangi Tavern (Toolangi home of CJ Dennis) was our lunch venue, where we enjoyed a delicious choice of 3 main and dessert options. The surrounding hills were tinged with early autumn colour despite the continuing warm weather. Some members wandered the garden to discover some cute resident ducks!
After lunch we continued on to The Big Bouquet in Healesville. Here they grow huge numbers of Gerberas in an enormous hothouse. Members had plenty of time to visit the very curious Alpacas, and make some alpaca wool gift purchases in the gift shop before our return trip to Melbourne.
A fabulous day out!!
View more photos from the meeting here:
