The Ferny Creek Horticultural Society (FCHS) held a mini plant expo on Thursday 14 March after the 18th Annual Plant Collectors’ Expo scheduled for the 9 and 10 March was cancelled due to the extreme heat and fire danger in the Yarra Ranges and Ferny Creek areas.
The mini expo had a successful turnout, with over 10 vendors of rare plants, bulbs, seeds, peonies and more being able to attend the event that started at 4pm in the FCHS Flower Hall.
Over 50 people stayed on to attend a joint lecture at 7pm, co-hosted by the FCHS and the Alpine Garden Society Victorian Group with special guests Peter Donegan and Martin Semken.
Peter and Martin are Landscape designers who won a gold medal winner at last year’s Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, and they shared some of their experiences and tips with the audience.
Ferny Creek Horticultural Society secretary Emma Moysey said the Plants Collectors’ Expo is an important opportunity for garden enthusiasts and vendors to showcase their plants and gardening related products.
“Many of our vendors are larger businesses, but we also support smaller operators that work so hard to bring such amazing plants to the Expo.”
Several societies including the Australian Rhododendron Society, the Salvia Study Group and the Alpine Garden Society Vic Group also attended the event.
As more nurseries go out of business, an event like this helps many in the industry to feel supported and enables them to keep operating.
FCHS Secretary said there’s a strong propagation group within the FCHS that propagates and raises plants from cuttings taken from the FCHS gardens, and also those of the garden’s members.
“Our propagation group always runs a very large plant stall at the plant collector’s expo.”
“One visitor from Adelaide stayed on from the weekend so she could come along to buy plants from the FCHS Plant stall,” Ms Moysey said.
The Plant Collectors’ Expo also enables FCHS to extend support to local community groups.
The FCHS’s future events will again invite the local primary school to run its barbecue, the Tennis Club to run the Plant Crèche, and the Sassafras Ferny Creek CFA to assist them with parking in the local Ferny Creek Recreational Reserve, and all these groups will be financially supported in return.
Life member and garden guide at FCHS, Keith Ross said the plants and trees they grow in the 10 acre garden at FCHS are a little bit unusual – meaning they have a specific climate in which they grow.
“My interest in gardening started when I was a child, my father was a landscape gardener – I’ve always been interested in plants and learning about them,” he said.
Mr Ross said the FCHS has more than 350 members.
“One of the assets of the society is we have a lot of people with all sorts of specialised knowledge, so whatever plant you’ve got, someone will have some sort of specialised knowledge that’ll help you answer your question.”
Mr Ross said, the great thing about working with plants is the more you know, the less you think you know, you’ll always be amazed at how complex nature is.
Chloe Van Berkel was one of the vendors at the mini plant expo, 30 years ago; her family rediscovered the Wollemi pine – which was first discovered by David Noble in what is now known as the Wollemi National Forest in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales.
For Ms Van Berkel, the Plant Expos are an opportunity to share and showcase her family’s discovery with the public and other vendors.
“The Wollemi pine is an interesting plant because you can keep them in the pot for the whole of its life while changing the soil…but the size of the pot can remain the same – that’s why Wollemi pine is so ideal for both indoor and outdoor,” she said.
Marie Jordan is the owner of Fresbrook Peony Farm and she’s been selling plants for the last 30 years. “It’s so important for everybody to be in the garden to pick a flower, or a vegetable.”
“To watch something grow is the most important thing in the world, it gives you a reason to get up in the morning. It’s got to be watered and looked after,” she said.
The next major event at the FCHS will be the Autumn show on the 27 and 28 April, from 12pm to 4pm, and 10am to 4pm on Sunday at 100 Hilton Rd.
Anyone interested in being a vendor at next year’s Plant Collectors’ Expo, or with any other queries should contact Emma Moysey at secretary@fchs.org.au.
