1982 was officially the Year of the Tree, and with great local interest in all things gardening, it was an ideal opportunity to gauge support for the formation of a garden club for the town and district.
Yass was fortunate to include amongst its gardeners at that time, the enthusiastic Cedric Bryant and his wife Gerdina.
In gardening circles, at a local, national and international level, Cedric Bryant was a much respected horticulturist, designer and nurseryman.
He came to Australia from England at the age of 17 in 1957 and spent his early years at Gunnedah before marrying and moving to Canberra in 1968. He began growing fuchsias as a relaxing hobby and soon had more than 300 varieties in his backyard glasshouses so he commenced studying horticulture at night to fulfil a lifelong dream of establishing a nursery.
Cedric and Gerdina purchased land in Yass and established a nursery that soon catered for more than his beloved fuchsias, as local residents looked to the Bryant’s to supply various plants, trees and herbs.
Cedric commenced writing a weekly article for the Yass Tribune and used this column to promote the possibility of starting a gardening club.
Following up on a positive response from readers, he convened a meeting at the Council Chambers in the spring of 1982.
At this meeting, a committee was formed and at a subsequent public meeting, the Yass and District Garden Club became a reality.
The inaugural President was Julia Clarke, ably supported by Anne Jeffrey as Vice President, Jacki Harding as Treasurer, Andrea Hacker as Secretary and Cedric Bryant himself filling the role of Publicity Officer.
The basic format of the Club was developed with meetings to be run monthly on the 3rd Tuesday of the month and the first General Meeting of the Club, open to all comers, was held in the October.
The Yass and District Garden Club will be celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year and is planning a special lunch, complete with birthday cake, at the Murrumbateman Country Inn on Saturday 27 August 2022.
To mark the occasion, and help us blow out the candles, the delightful Mary Moody will talk about gardening, her travels, the gardens she has visited and the books she has written.
Mary Moody trained as a journalist at the Australian Women’s Weekly in the 1960s.
In the 1970s she moved to the Blue Mountains with her young family and became a passionate organic gardener.
She wrote and edited countless gardening books and magazines, and was a presenter on the ABC’s top rating Gardening Australia for ten years.
If you are interested in attending this public function, $35 per person includes a roast lunch, fruit and birthday cake, tea coffee and this wonderful speaker.
We may even celebrate with a glass of champagne!
Let us know if you have special dietary requirements.
Please contact yassdistrictgardenclub@gmail.com and for more information: https://www.facebook.com/YassGardeningClub
All welcome!