Big Arse Gardens bust out at the worlds Biggest Hanging Basket Competition

Wow, what a fortnight!  My baby girl turned 16, went to the Ball, introduced me to the boy friend! and now has her learner driver's permit.  At least we haven't been on the open road yet. I needed to get that information out first because the rest of my time has been spent at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.

   
As I hope you know we are staging the 10th annual Great Victorian Hanging Basket Competition for the Royal Horticultural Society of Victoria.  We have to do a final count but we believe we have 219 (possibly 222) baskets on display, every one grown by a home gardener.  Can I give a little perspective? That's about 90 more baskets than we displayed last year and we are waiting for confirmation that this is a world record.  Congratulations to The RHSV committee, particularly Don & Jennifer Rickerby who have put hours and hours into this project.  I would also like to acknowledge John DiDonna, who built and painted most of our black towers.  John's son Russell, Rod Noonan and my friend Mac McKillop all volunteered to build the display over five days leading up to the show opening.  It's physically hard work and I'm really grateful for all the help.

You will understand that I'm a little disappointed that we did not get a prize for our display, but I have to admit that some of the finer details that we have put in in the past gave way to volume this time around.  Unfortunately the Flower Show haven't published the basket competition results so I can't congratulate everyone deserving recognition.  I'll make sure I have the details for next week.  I do know that my son Ben won first prize in the children's competition and I promise I only watered his basket once. Ben has entered the competition since the children's section was started about 5 years ago so I'm really pleased for him that he has finally won a prize.

     
We also have plants on display with the Guide Dogs of Victoria garden designed by James Dawson.  The second pic was taken at about 8.30 last night, after the show had closed.

     
And... the winner takes all Tree and Shrub Growers of Victoria "Our Plants Our Planet" series of gardens from aroound the world.  I am especially pleased with our plants being presented in these gardens because annual flowers and vegetables are often ignored by landscapers.  You can see from the pics (if you look closely) that the Guide Dogs display particularly is very modern and the Aussie Garden at the Tree and Shrub Growers is fresh and stylish too.  Who are the Tree & Shrub Growers of Victoria?  T&S is a sub group of the Nursery and Garden Industry of Victoria that specifically represents the industry's growers.  Yes Scotsburn is a member and no we don't grow trees.



Finally our Big Arse Gardens (BAGs).  What a hit!  We can't get over how many enquiries we have had.  Seeing as I threw these boxes out there to get a feel for what people want without much more plan than that, I now have to do some serious homework and find out just how mush these beasties cost us to put together but it certainly seams that there are gardeners who would love to have a ready to go garden, delivered to their door.  We will sit down after the show and collate all the information we have.  We definitely have to put together a few "packages" of planting types and finalize some prices for finished boxes.

Here are some thoughts to date.  We will line the boxes with weed mat (a water permeable membrane, that sounds more professional) but I am struggling with ideas for large saucers to prevent water sluicing over paving.  Drip irrigation and castor wheels will be optional extras and we will almost certainly have to put boxes together on site.  Possibly the most frequently asked question has been about longevity, I'll guarantee 2 years but beyond that there are just too many variables.

By the way the volunteers from the Royal Horticultural Society were nearly driven to distraction with questions about our rustic troughs.  These will be available after the show.  Planted up and delivered (Melbourne Metro) $80.00 each.  If you want to buy one (or more) please give us a call or send an email.  We have credit card facilities but I haven't worked out a shopping cart for our web site yet.