Like two big sisters I never knew I had, the OGV volunteers arrived half an hour before the opening and fussed, directed, questioned, encouraged, and helped to make sure everything was in order when the first visitors arrived, right on the dot of 10am. Even though I had opened the garden previously, and I had a bevy of my own friends hovering around to help out over both days, it was very reassuring to have Lyn, Julie, Anne, Bev, Megan and Matthew from OGV to direct traffic, guide visitors in and to check tickets. They were ably supported by my partner Adam, and friends Stuart, Sarah and Gayle. Jac and Wei Jin on the plant stall were their own empire of helpfulness.
It felt strange to me that my purpose was not to be useful at all, but merely to chat serenely and explain what the odd fruiting trees were in the veggie garden (there were so many delightful questions about the medlars, persimmons and pomegranates), to outline the timeline of the garden, and to commentate on the weather. I am ashamed to say, I soon settled comfortably into the role.
I tried to work out where the garden visitors came from. Firstly, there were the stalwart fans of Open Gardens Victoria, who follow the season religiously. Family and friends were one rather large subgroup. At one point the entire population of the tiny town of Kernot, where I grew up, paraded past me.
Another well represented cohort consisted of my maintenance clients, some of whom trekked the two hours down from Melbourne to take a look at what on earth their gardener had been up to. There was a fair chunk of people who had come because they had seen the event advertised in the local paper or fliers they had picked up at a local café. And of course there were the friends and followers on social media who had come to see what the garden behind the posts actually looked like. It was a thrill to meet these members of my social media community. It was like meeting old friends, and putting real names and faces to Instagram handles was so much part of the fun.
Then there were the more curious connections that amazed me in a very heartwarming way. The couple who had been repeat visitors to the house when it had be
en a BnB, had fallen in love with the area and had bought their house in Mirboo North during Covid. Or the couple from Melbourne, whose Border Collie received so much of our affection while we were fellow guests at a BnB in Rutherglen a few years ago.
So for me the great highlight of the garden opening was connecting with the people who came, and showing them around my garden, which is such a sincere expression of my true self. I had to present Clear Springs to the public with an open heart and in turn my heart was filled by the kindness and affection of the visitors who came.
All photographs in this post were taken by Lana Kovac.
