The volunteers, led by Dawn Giles and Ros Loftus, worked tirelessly to have the garden looking a picture and the recently renovated house looking especially beautiful, all decorated for a Victorian Christmas.  

A record number of visitors attended the Fair and enjoyed the beautiful weather, there were a large number of stalls selling a good variety of plants, produce, good and garden ornaments.  Community groups were also well represented. Among the various attractions there were also talks by Michael Bligh and the Goulburn Beekeepers.   The weather, gardens, house and especially the visitors who enjoyed it all made for a wonderful day.

One of the highlights of the Fair was the talk by Michael Bligh on garden design.  This was very well attended and we all admired the spectacular before and after slides of large country gardens which Michael showed as he walked us through the design principles.  Michael’s years of experience were clearly apparent in his knowledge and blend of aesthetics and practicality, presented in a very informative and entertaining way. The talk only lasted for an hour but I am sure many of us would have been very happy for another hour.  

Although the emphasis of the talk was on large country gardens the principles can also be applied to smaller gardens.  We will not be able to replicate all the content of his talk but hope to include some of his ideas in the coming months, starting with the entrance to your property.

The large flowering shrub at the entrance to the garden was greatly admired.  This beautiful shrub is a Viburnum opulus rosea. It is a wonderful 'old world” deciduous large shrub that has small green snowballs which grow larger and turn white in spring.  It is very hardy in most positions and is frost and drought tolerant once established

With the house magnificently decorated for Christmas, thoughts turn to how the Twynam family celebrated Christmas.  As an aside, it is also interesting to note that many traditions surrounding Christmas were introduced during the Victorian era.  No other era was as significant in the way we celebrate Christmas today as the Victorian. Introductions included Christmas cards, holidays, gift giving, crackers and the Christmas tree.  

So, how did the family celebrate Christmas?  Did they follow the English traditions by a having their celebratory dinner inside or, as was becoming popular a family picnic.  Regardless, the menu would have been mainly comprised of meat, fruit and vegetables from the property. During this time much of Riversdale was under crops, vegetables, fruit and grazing animals.  Almost certainly asparagus from the massive beds would have been included.

Recently at Riversdale it was interesting to see how our sense of smell differs.  The peony was in flower and other volunteers spoke about the beautiful fragrance. Naturally a few of went down to experience this “heavenly” smell.  Sadly, no such thing happened for some. All I got was a slight earthy, grassy smell which was almost unpleasant. The flower though was certainly beautiful.  This might explain why some plants described as highly fragrant by some and having no scent by others.

There is an interesting story about these peonies.  The clumps were dug up by Doug Rawlinson in the 1980s from the lawn and transplanted throughout the garden.  At that time it was thought they were about 100 years old and possibly originally planted by Emily Twynam. Later they were planted where they grow and flower today, from the original clumps which would be 130 years old.  Amazing!!

Riversdale is Open Monday from Thursday 10am to 2pm. Devonshire Teas the third Sunday of the month. Last one this year on December 16.

It is closed from December 17 until January 14. It is located at at 2 Twynam Drive, North Goulburn.