The MGS Forum
Talking points. Comments and questions on: => MGS events => Topic started by: Alisdair on December 07, 2012, 06:52:21 PM
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This meeting was a huge success, at least a hundred members taking part. I felt really lucky to be there. Us overseas visitors were treated royally by the organisers, led by Merilyn Kuchel of the South Australia branch, with an optional programme laid on by the Victoria branch under Kaye Stokes. The Australian members couldn't have been more friendly and hospitable, generously opening their homes to us, and wining and dining us with great gusto. We saw some 30 gardens and reserves, and no end of eye-opening plants. (I hope to contribute a fairly detailed account to the MGS journal's January 2013 issue.) It was great to meet several of the two dozen or so Australian members of this forum there.
One of the many highlights was a morning of interesting talks at the Adelaide Botanic Garden - one given by MGS founding member and forum member Trevor Nottle on the Mediterranean background to the development of gardening and farming in South Australia. Trevor has kindly let me attach the paper on which he based his talk - it's attached below, click on it to download it.
I hope to slip bits and pieces (particularly photos) from this Australian trip into the forum when they'd fit sensibly into topics being discussed.
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It is absolutely sine qua non for Antipodeans ( in this case Australians) to treat their guests as such. I am not a bit surprised you were treated 'royally', generously, and had an amazing time. I would have expected no less.
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I took hundreds of photos of the gardens our Australian hosts showed us. I was asked to pick out 22 for the MGS website, which I've now done, and which you can see by clicking here (http://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/71-agm.html).
I wish I'd been able to include far more. Even picking out 88 for a talk I gave to the Greek Branch last week meant that I couldn't do anything like justice to all the wonderful gardens and plants that we were shown. But at least it's a bit of a taste.
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Wonderful photos, Alisdair, I would have loved to see them on a large screen.
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Absolutely fabulous photos! What a trip!
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Thanks very much, Jorun and Pamela - not hard to take nice pictures, of such wonderful places!
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A great picture show Alasdair, Thanks. May I add that one other person played a very prominent role in the early introduction and advocacy for Mediterranean crops in South Australia? He was Samuel Davenport whose estate on the foothills at Beaumont still has its original olive grove planted by him when he established Beaumont House. Behind the house stands Greenhill on which a large colony of naturalised Italian lavender has spread since his experimental lavender field was abandonned by a later owner. tn
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Great photos Alistair. ;D
I would have loved to come to your showing and heard about them as well.
Daisy :)
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Thanks, Daisy - it would have been great to have met you, and perhaps found out some more of the secrets behind your amazing garden!
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Nice to see the photos having just read your excellent article in the Journal, both helping us non-attendees to feel what it was like on an obviously superb trip. I have a brother in Geelong so next time I am out there I shall have some other very interesting places to visit.
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Andrew, When you're out there do get in touch with the Victoria MGS branch (now headed by the forum's Trevor Australis)! And as a succulents man I'm sure you'll want to see Trevor's Haworthias....