By GARY FRY
ARMIDALE has lost one of its best-known green thumbs.
Graham Thomas Hillard (known as ’Tom’) passed away at the age of 70, after a long illness. He is survived by his wife, Christine and a son and daughter.
A service was conducted on Monday at 2pm at St. Peter’s Cathedral, followed by interment at the Armidale Lawn Cemetery. A large crowd of mourners attended.
Originally a dairy farmer, Tom Hillard sowed the seeds for a long career in gardening when he took a job with the then College of Advanced Education. Over the years, his practical skills, horticultural and botanical knowledge grew and blossomed. For 30 years, Tom was responsible for preserving the grounds of the Old Teachers’ College; a living, heritage listed landmark.
Tom Hillard had up to 25 employees working with him on the grounds of the teachers college.
“When I gained the position of head gardener, it was quite an honour. There were a lot of people vying for the top job and it was considered, at the time, to be second in prestige to the principal of the college,” he said upon his retirement in July 2006.
His love of gardening did not wither with retirement. “Flowers were a big part of the job at the Teachers’ College. I got back into growing dahlias there and then planted at home,” he said.
Tom was one of Armidale’s most prominent and highly respected gardening authorities. His flower of choice was the dahlia and he made growing dahlias to perfection an artform.
Tom grew dahlias for around 40 years, showing them competitively for over 15 years. “Dahlias have been a pretty big love in my life, since I was a schoolboy. I was attracted to the colour and size of them,” he said (in 2009).
Tom’s efforts to preserve the colour and vibrancy of his dahlias made his garden in west Armidale an unusual sight. For the weeks approaching the New England show circuit, Tom’s garden would be protected from the elements by a canopy of umbrellas. There would be some 350 plants in his front and backyard, with barely enough room for the clothes line.
Growers of show dahlias can take it pretty seriously but Tom was always prepared to reveal some tricks of the trade.
