It was not only about beautiful roses and other spring flowers in bloom, there was lots more to discover at the six open gardens for visitors last Sunday.
The rain last weekend not only washed away all the dust but brought back spring in all its glory just in time for last Sunday’s six open gardens hosted by Quota International of Parkes.
The beautiful day inspired loads of people to explore and enjoy the day with 160 wristbands sold, not counting children under 16 who had free entry. “It was a great day and we are extremely happy with the very positive feedback we have received,” said Lynn Rogers of Quota.
Morning tea and lunch on offer at different gardens brought heaps of praise too with 125 lunches and 120 morning teas sold.
The hard work put in over many months and years by the gardeners was all worth it on the day. Lynn said people not only commented about the beautiful gardens, but said it was such a lovely social day out. “The chance to meet and talk to people in lovely surroundings was a boost, especially in this drought.”
That was the aim of Bill and Beth Thomas, who added fun and quirky elements to their garden, to solicit smiles and give people some joy. They also decided to ‘pink up’ in support of the Pink Up Parkes initiative and raised $324 for the McGrath Foundation! The unique castle ride into the sky was very popular, once you got past the dragon guarding some treasure…
“We had a lot of fun showing our quirky garden to so many people. It was great to see lots of smiles on faces, especially the kids, and fabulous to see so much generosity to the McGrath Foundation,” said Beth. For Bill it was about helping a worthy cause. “Cancer touches everyone’s lives in one way or another. It was all we could do to help.”
Lynn said Quota was absolutely thrilled taking in $10,000 on the day. “Expenses are still to be deducted, but we are hopeful of a $9,000 profit. The raffle was particularly popular and the main prize was won by Troy Thompson.”
By Maggi Barnard