The 2024 Maleny Spring Fair was held on Saturday 5 October. It featured a Garden Market at the Maleny Showgrounds and three private open gardens in Maleny.
The Garden Market
The Garden Market featured many varieties of plants and products, including plants from local gardens and Queensland nurseries as well as pottery, garden decor and tools. Morning and afternoon teas, lunches and local produce such as jams and baked goods were also be available.
See the Garden Market [Inside]:
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See the Garden Market [Outside]:
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Garden 1: Click < & > to move through the photos.
From the Garden Owners: A rural setting was our dream. We fell in love with this property before we even entered the house. The cows from next door were at the fence to greet us. We loved that we could look up to the dairy farm on the hill and watch the cattle crazing. A wonderful selection of colourful plants abounds. Farming equipment from generations past is among the interesting features created by the owners. Our ambition is to keep the garden low maintenance and the foliage at a height so as not to obstruct the view.
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Garden 2: Click < & > to move through the photos.
From the Garden Owner: The garden owner is a grateful person who once lived in a desert and happened upon the divine climate and soil of Maleny and encountered very generous people who provided a start by gifting plants to begin the garden journey and transform a large horse paddock into the garden of today. The garden is augmented with cuttings from vegies and tube stock that go crazy in such clement surrounds. A variety of colourful plants in the front and side gardens, a vegetable garden and chook house make this and interesting garden. It has beeb created from the owner’s vision to have a garden free from chemicals.
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Garden 3: Click < & > to move through the photos.
From the Garden Owners: At the end of a long agapanthus-lined driveway is an informal three acre garden of lawned park areas and a variety of tall deciduous trees with shady understorey beds. Numerous azaelas, sasanqua camelias, magnificent deciduous magnolias provide colour through the winter. Clivias, pansies, petunias, rosea and calibrachoas provide ‘pops of colour’ in the area closer to the house. There is a variety of fruit trees, and a small veggie garden, where we compete with bower birds and bandicoots, to say nothing of the brush turkey. He loves our mulch and thinks his gift of a random tomato plant is payment enough for his use of it. Stone walls and low hedging provide a contrast and separation in different areas. An eclectic mix of trees and shrubs, both large and small, are always something to discover as you walk through this casual garden.
The Gate Keepers: A vital part of the Spring Fair are the volunteers who take on the myriad of roles to get the show on the road and to keep it running smoothly all day long. Out in the field you find the gatekeepers. They collect your tickets at each garden gate and answer your questions, liaising with the garden owners.
