Brenda Howells and Ann Weiland added a dash of colour to the Wondai Garden Club stand with their striking Spring hats

October 1, 2012

The 7th annual Spring Garden Expo in Wondai – the “little brother” of the Autumn Garden Expo which celebrated its 19th birthday in April – attracted more than 2000 visitors at the weekend.

As usual, the front of the Wondai Sportsground was packed with cars for most of Saturday and Sunday while crowds of gardening enthusiasts prowled around the oval to browse displays ranging from native plants to cut flowers, or inspected the Wondai Garden Club’s Horticultural Show and Display in the Lions Pavilion.

But it wasn’t all gardening – there was also a range of arts and crafts, furniture and clothing stands for visitors to look over, as well as wine and cheese tastings from Moffatdale Ridge and Cheeseworld, guest speakers and entertainment.

There were also several food stalls dotted around the grounds, while Wondai Lions Club members were kept busy manning the barbecue and serving up snacks from the kitchen.

Popular ABC gardening guru Rod Hultgren – who was scheduled to talk on Saturday about competition gardening and the Rose Trial Garden in Toowoomba – was a surprise last-minute cancellation due to illness.

But noted African Violet specialist Bob Moore was able to share his knowledge on Sunday as planned, while Geoff Grevell and the talented members of Love To Sing entertained visitors under the main marquee on both days.

Garden Expo committee member Bob Mitchell said everyone wished Mr Hultgren a speedy recovery. He was “very happy” with this year’s attendance numbers, especially since rain had looked a distinct possibility early on Saturday morning.

“It’s really turned out to be a lovely day,” he said. “You couldn’t ask for much better.”

The Autumn Garden Expo will be held at the same venue on April 20-21, 2013. For more details about this event, contact Fran on (07) 4168-5870 or email her

 

 

The Wondai and Goomeri Masonic Lodges helped out with Expo catering – and Bob Coleman, Allen Wilkinson, Percy Iszlaub and Peter McIntosh turned out to be dab hands with damper!

Expo committee member Bob Mitchell was very pleased the weather stayed fine

June Jones won 1st prize for “Container – Any Mixed Flowers” in the Horticultural Competition

Jason Kinsella from Moffatdale Ridge showed off the floral bouquets of wine at his stand

Peter Shelton from Wooroonden assisted the Wondai Lions at the BBQs
Falko Van Der Werf came from Tiaro to show off his stunning range of Blue Gum slab furniture, which included this half-tonne indoor dining suite