Thursday 19 September 2013

A LITTLE BACKGROUND OF THE CHANDLERS and FORTHCOMING OPEN GARDEN WEEKEND AT COMO



The "Lilydale Express" on Friday 19th July 1901 published an article “Chandlers I have Met” written by M.A.C.  It is a delightful article on the family and it left me feeling privileged to have known the late John Chandler.

I have in my possession John’s autobiography which has given me a greater insight.  One of the many things mentioned in the article was about the plant Boronia, and I now quote “The flower season is a busy one for Mr Chandler (William) as maybe judged when it is known that 35,000 bunches of Boronia have to be marketed and dispatched to all principal towns of the state, but in this department he is ably assisted by the younger members of the family” unquote.

John Chandler regaled me with the stories of picking and bunching the Boronia up into posies, there was no electricity connected so lamps and candles were used as they worked into the night.  John told me the Boronias seeds planted at Como came from a relative holidaying in Western Australia, they are not native to Victoria.  The growing seasons for the plants ended when they became affected by a virus, but not before the Chandlers had bred new plants.

It was with great pleasure on visiting the second stage of the Botanical Gardens at Cranbourne that I saw planted one of the Chandlers Boronia, the name lives on - what a wonderful achievement.

I could talk about Como Gardens forever, why not came along to our next Open Weekend 19th and 20th of October;  we will have a lot of fun?  

Join the garden tours and hear stories of days gone by whilst supporting our SES and St John Ambulance.

....© 2013 Pat Hetrel, Como Gardens, The Basin, Victoria, Australia

Wednesday 18 September 2013

UP. UP AND AWAY!

Well, someone has to do it!

It's a lot of hard work maintaining the grounds at Como Gardens, so occasionally George has to take "time out".   A quick trip to Townsville was the answer.

This is what he got up to (literally!) during his recent trip to Townsville.



Now he should be refreshed and ready to get down to the hard yakka in ensuring Como Gardens are neat and in full bloom, ready for the carloads of visitors to the Open Garden Weekend coming up on 19th and 20th October 2013.

Put that weekend in your diary.  Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th October.