October 29th, 2022Inside the garden gates: a weekend for garden lovers

SHARING their own private garden with others is a source of joy for Creswick couple, Claire and Clive Chadder.
Their home, Vention Cottage, features one of eight private local gardens
soon to open to the public as part of the Creswick Garden Lovers Weekend over
Saturday and Sunday, November 12 and 13.
“Claire is the gardener and I’m the builder,” explains Clive who relocated to
Australia in 1981 after living in Zimbabwe.
The property is named after Clive’s old family home in Zimbabwe and over the
11 years that Clive and Claire have lived at Vention Cottage they’ve transformed the
site in a big way.
“There was nothing here originally,” says Claire who focuses her talents on the
plants and garden beds which are well complemented by Clive’s creations that range
from the rustic brick edgings and paving to the quaint little garden cottage and the
new outdoor timber slab table.
“We’re a team,” Claire says.
Careful mulching allows shade-loving plants like viburnum, hosta, hellebore, and
hydrangea to flourish here, while in sunny spots there are classics like roses, salvias
and eremophila.
When The Local visited in recent days the tulips were in full bloom,
demonstrating Claire’s capacity for creating with a palette of living colour, while the
quince blossom was doing its spring thing.
“With the open gardens we love having people come through. We love sharing it.
It’s a deciduous garden so it’s really coming into its own now,” Claire says.
The upcoming Creswick Garden Lovers Weekend will be the third time that the
Chadders’ Vention Cottage garden has participated in the event that’s organised by
Business and Tourism Creswick and now in its seventh year.
Inside the garden gates: a weekend for garden lovers
“I love collecting plants and I try to plant in varying gradations of colour,” Claire
says.
“It’s a shade garden and I plant things close together so things pop up through
other things giving that blend of colours and textures. It’s my passion.”
Claire and Clive are not the only ones keenly anticipating next month’s Garden
Lovers weekend which is making its return following a two-year hiatus due to Covid.
Other beautiful – and diverse – local gardens that will be participating over the
weekend include Creswick’s private BeauVue, Nandina, Ophir and Pozieres gardens,
along with Shirley’s Garden at Creswick North, Thyme Cottage at Eganstown and
Field House at Springmount.
The cost to get through the garden gates is $5 per garden (kids free) with all
profits raised used for Creswick projects.
The Creswick Neighbourhood Centre in Victoria Street will serve as the venue
for purchase and collection of all tickets and maps on the weekend. Online bookings
are also currently available through Eventbrite with more information available from
www.creswick.net
Garden lovers also won’t want to miss the Creswick Garden Club’s plant sale and
mini flower show that will coincide with the Garden Lovers Weekend.
Due to renovations in the town hall, the Creswick Garden Club is planning a
scaled down mini flower show in the Senior Citizens Hall in Water Street, as well as a
plant sale outside the IGA supermarket on both days.

Words and Image: Eve Lamb