U3A Ballarat Gardening Interest Group

    Como House.  Melbourne’s most glamorous stately home. 7 th March visit.   The U3A Gardening Interest Group visited Como House on 7 th March.  Most ventured to Como by train and a short walk.  The group enjoyed a relaxed, fun day wandering around the house and gardens, learning of the early settlers to Australia.  Our 22 attendees split into two groups for the tours and felt amazed at the knowledge of the volunteers conducting us around the premises.  The Café at Como offered an enjoyable lunch and a quiet time to stop, catch your breath, socialise and enjoy the sunshine, amongst the leafy greens.  Built in 1847, Como House and Garden is an intriguing mix of Australian Regency and classic Italianate architecture. Como offers a glimpse into the privileged lifestyle of former owners, the Armytage family, who lived there for nearly a century. The Armytage’s became famous amongst Melbourne high society and equally famous for their ma...

  La Gerche Gully Circuit Walk, Saw Pit Road, Creswick.  Morning Visit The La Gerche Gully Circuit Walk takes you on a journey through time.  Sawpit Gully Plantation reveals the story of John La Gerche, Creswick’s first forester and one of Victoria’s first Landcarers. Using his own initiative, La Gerche created a large and unique experimental plantation with a diverse range of conifers and deciduous trees. John La Gerche’s vision for the future and enduring efforts were formally recognised when Sawpit Gully Nursery and Plantation area was listed as a Heritage Place in the Victorian Heritage Register, 14 th November 2014.   A BYO lunch was enjoyed by the group at Calembeen Park, Creswick.  The two beautiful lakes there are home to birdlife and waterlily displays.  Chinese miners first mined here for shallow alluvial gold between 1850s and 1860s.  Many walked the lakes, enjoying locals fishing, birdwatching and walking the local tracks. See...

  Roraima Nursery, Kevin Hoffman Walk and Suealoe Garden visits, Tuesday 6th Dec 2022 Roraima Nursery Visit, Lara, 6th December 2022. A group from our Garden Interest Group, led by Terry O'Brien ventured to Lara and visited the Roraima Nursery which specialises in unusual, exotic, drought tolerant and architectural plants.  Roraima Nursery also offers a large variety of natives, perennials, ferns, palms, bottle trees, and one of the largest selections of cacti and succulents in Victoria. The passion of plants was obvious when the owner spoke to our group on arrival, and as we wandered through the planted gardens, we could understand how the nursery has grown in the last 22 years, to become a beautiful garden of plantings suitable for all garden types.  There is something for everyone, and the visit was totally enjoyed.  The group headed to the Keven Hoffman Walk in Lara after our Roraima visit.  The walk is Lara's native garden trail that stretches along the eas...

  A group of 16 from the Gardening Interest Group were looking forward to a day in the Macedon Ranges.  Firstly, we headed off on the highway to Macedon and drove through the little town to have a morning tea at the Centennial Park, opposite Honour Ave on Mt Macedon Road, Macedon. The town put on a splendid day with the autumn colours were in full swing.  We then headed to the Dicksonia Rare Plants Nursery, 686 Mt Macedon Road, Macedon, where we were met by the owner Stephen Ryan.   Stephen had run the family nursery until he started his own nationally recognised nursery in 1980 and has been a passionate plant collector ever since. He spoke about the difference of his nursery where he cultivates nearly all his plants for sale rather than buying plants in bulk to sell onto his customers.   While he said his plants were rare, they were still hardy and most were well suited to the Ballarat climate.  He also spoke about his life outside the nursery and was a ...