A beautiful autumn morning, with clear blue skies greeted us as 56 members gathered at the bus for our trip.
We arrived to Zest Restaurant (Homesglen TAFE's training restaurant) in Glen Waverley, for a very welcome morning tea, complete with freshly baked muffins, cake and vegetable slice.
We then set off to Emerald for our visit to Nobelius Heritage Park to visit the Salvia Display Garden. This registered collection of salvias is run by the Victorian Salvia Study Group. Here we met up with Lyndi Garnett, co-ordinator of the group, for a guided walk around the garden. The tough and hardy salvias come in all colours - blue, red, pink and white. They were enjoying the sunshine and attracting lots of bees with their pretty display. The group has a website for further information: www.salvias.org.au
The heritage park is also home to many historic trees and the Emerald Museum, with much history about the park and its original nursery dating back to 1886. www.emeraldmuseum.org.au
We then returned to Zest Restaurant for a 2 course lunch, which was delicious!! The food was beautifully presented and our waiting staff all very attentive. I am sure we will be back!
After lunch, we were treated to a visit at the private garden of Lyndi Garnett, who boasts a huge variety of salvias, as well as many other interesting plants. Members were able to purchase plants for sale. Lindi will be coming to speak to members at our July meeting and will also bring plants for sale.
A big thank-you to our trip organisers for another fabulous and interesting outing!
