Gardening delights at annual Bacchus Marsh event

THE Bacchus Marsh Public Hall will again be filled with the aromas of freshly-picked flowers when it hosts the annual Flower and Garden Show over the last weekend of this month.

But there will be so much more at this year’s show, which runs from 12pm to 4pm on Saturday 25 October and from 10am to 4pm on Sunday 26 October.

Children’s face painting and colouring in, music from the past and competitions for the best of home-grown produce – jams and jellies, pickles and pesto, pot plants and baskets of homegrown vegetables – will all be on the schedule.

And of course there will be plenty of roses, which take centre stage every year, with roses of every variety lined up for judging by experts.

Committee member Nicki Paull said local schools had also contributed to the event, with colourful art to decorate every wall and caterpillars, birds and shoebox gardens made from plants and other materials to be on display.

She said other attractions will include a photographic exhibition on the stage, a cake decorating table, and fresh scones made by the local CWA.

Outside the hall, on Main Street, an extensive selection of plants will be available to buy, with each plant cultivated from a cutting or a seed and donated to help raise money for the show.

Ms Paull said that money – and the show, which is now in its 12th year – is administered by the Bacchus Marsh Rotary Club and goes to a variety of causes locally and abroad.

As for entering, conditions are outlined on the event’s website, bmflowershow.org/entry-rules.

Gardeners can enter as many categories as they like by completing an entry form and taking it with them before 9.30am on the first day of the event, Ms Paull said.

She said a highlight will be a garden raffle, which will be drawn at 3pm on the Sunday with handmade items and other prizes donated by local businesses to be won.

Prizes will include quilts, pruners, barrows, tools, plants and outdoor table settings.

Show volunteers are selling raffle tickets at local supermarkets.

And next door in the James Young room of the Lerderderg Library, the Bacchus Marsh basket weaving group and the B-MAC Gallery will present displays of their work.

Admission to the show will be $5 for anyone over 15.