ACT Member Breakfast and Tour of Yarralumla Nursery

On the 19^th May, Yarralumla Nursery kindly hosted a TLA member breakfast, which included an association update by President, John Kaloscai, and a fascinating tour of the nursery, established at its current site in Weston Park in 1914 and covering 12 acres.

President; John Kalocsai and Director; Martin Rolfe each took to the barbie, dishing up bacon and eggs to warm the stomachs of guests on what was a chilly morning. Martin’s design prowess was apparent in his neatly presented eggs whereas John took a more free-form approach. Resident magpies attempted to steal centre-stage with their ‘caroling’ before trying for bacon fresh off the grill.

Nursery Manager, Farley Hayward provided guests with a short history of the nursery to present day. Yarralumla Nursery grow 50% native and 50% exotic species and use a trial garden bed to test new varieties performance in the ACT’s extreme climate. The nursey dispatches 250,000+ plants a year, supplying the local community and servicing customers between Sydney to the Victorian border and beyond. in addition to supplying plants grown onsite, Yarralumla can source species from other growers upon request.

Erin, Horticulturist and Customer Relations Officer, was our tour guide for the morning and took us on a walking tour of the site which included heritage listed glasshouses and original 1914 buildings along with one of the oldest seed banks in the Southern hemisphere. Of particular interest were the Torrey pines planted as a windbreak around the nursery in 1915 from seed sourced from Pennsylvania USA. The trees surrounding the property today are likely some of the oldest and tallest in the world and are now considered an endangered species. Yarralumla Nursery staff collect seeds from the pines to continue the species.

Yarralumla Nursery combines the old with the new. New additions include the Cathedral house, made of skins pumped with warm air. The bulb shed, which is home to the bulbs used in Floriade and the potting shed where hand potting and watering has been replaced with the latest technology. Cloud-based software has been introduced, which can be used remotely and provides improved control over irrigation.

It was an insightful and inspiring morning and a fabulous catch-up with fellow TLA members. We are very grateful to our hosts, the staff at Yarralumla Nursery for generously welcoming us into their second home and their efforts in making our event a wonderful success.

Thank you.

Kim Duncan-Jones

Membership and Event Co-ordinator