Seeds sown for flower show’s return

STOP and smell the roses at this month’s Australian Flower Show.

Hosted by the Australian Plant Society Bendigo at Victory College on Saturday, 24 September and Sunday, 25 September, the show will feature displays of more than 400 specimens of flowers, several nurseries selling native plants and more.

Secretary of APS Bendigo, Sandy Birch, said while it’s the first major event since 2019 the group has maintained a strong following.

“People are much more interested in gardening since all the lockdowns,” she said.

“We’ve had a number of people join up who had moved to Bendigo to escape capital cities, and they were very interested to find out they could join our group and learn more about the local environment and native plants.

“The last couple of flower shows, we had a real increase in membership… [we have] 20 to 30 members joining at a time. Some of the groups in Victoria aren’t even 30 members in size.”

Ms Birch said the event had outgrown the previous venues’ capacities, and as such this year’s will be held at Victory Christian College’s new indoor netball courts.

“We’re using one of them, but they’ve said we can use both of them if we wish,” she said.

A bigger venue means there is potential for the flower show to become a larger event, focusing on more than just plants.

“Our members are interested in not just growing the flowers and plants, they’re also conscious of the environment and climate change,” Ms Birch said.

“If we can get other groups, like Landcare groups wanting to put on a display, we can grow it into an ‘everything to do with nature’ show. That’s what we’re hoping will happen.”

The flower show is on 9.30am to 4pm both Saturday and Sunday. Entry is $5 and children go free.