By ALESHA CAPONE
DELICATE dahlias and ravishing roses will be among the beautiful blooms on display when the Sunshine Golden Age Garden Club hosts a free show in March.
The club’s 93rd Annual Autumn Show will include floral art, fruit and vegetables, photography, pot plants, cookery and a children’s section.
Husband-and-wife Ken and Dorothy Charman, who have belonged to the club for more than a decade, encouraged Brimbank residents to attend the event.
The pair, who will celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary this month, said the club was also always looking for new members.
“You don’t have to be a gardener,” Mr Charman said.
“Perhaps you’re looking for advice on growing a certain plant and you can come to hear a guest speaker talk about it, then become interested and learn more.”
Mrs Charman said the club’s meetings featured a friendly atmosphere, raffle, supper and a show bench for garden items, such as vegetable or flowers, with the best receiving a prize.
Mrs Charman said she was interested in flower arranging, floral art and ferns, while her husband enjoys his vegie patch – just like his own father did.
“When I was growing up and World War II was on, my father had a marvellous vegetable patch on top of our air-raid shelter,” Mr Charman said.
“Dorothy, she’s the gardener, she has the ideas,” he said.
“Ken carries things about for me,” Mrs Charman said.
The grandmother-of-four is also a volunteer in the palliative care ward at Sunshine Hospital, where she can often be seen tending to the bouquets.
“I never throw a flower away if I can keep it,” she said.
The 93rd Annual Autumn Show will be on 15 March from 11am to 4pm at the Glengala Community Hall, corner Simmie St and Glengala Rd, Sunshine West. Free admission. Visitors welcome, afternoon tea for a gold coin donation. Inquiries: Chris on 0418 543 649.
