May 11th, 2020Nursery brings early cheer to Daylesford

WHILE the country may be in the grip of a pandemic, come Spring Daylesford will be flush with beautiful swathes of jonquils, thanks to nurseryman Jeff Thornycroft.

Jeff, who owns Wombat Hill Nursery with wife Donna, said he had the idea to bring Daylesford into a spectacular springtime celebration after the business closed for a week and then re-opened for two to three days.

“It was a crazy idea at the start. Being closed and then just open a few days gave me the time to think about things a bit more than usual.

“I was scratching my head and wanting to come up with something that was a symbol of the current times that we live in and what’s happening, so we could look back when we are on the other side of things.”

Jeff quickly pressed his son and son’s partner, Liam Thornycroft and Daniel Condon, into action and then Cliffy’s Café co-owner and Liam’s business partner Samantha Mackley joined the team and Daylesford Erlicheer was under way.

The idea was that as many Daylesford residents as possible get involved in a mass planting of erlicheer bulbs on Sunday, May 3 at 3pm – and get involved they did.

People also loved the idea of “collecting one bag for yourself, one for a neighbour and one for a public space”.

They ordered online and arrived at 15-minute intervals to collect their bags of 25 bulbs. An initial optimistic purchase of 10,000 bulbs sold out within 24 hours, with a further 5000 bulbs landing the next day and going out the door in the next 24 hours.

Liam Thornycroft said the project had served to remind him what a special community Daylesford was. “And this will give the community a chance to reflect back to the current times.”

Daylesford’s “sowing soiree” was hugely successful on May 3, with more than 10,000 bulbs planted by around 200 residents in front yards, on road reserves and in public places where people can “enjoy them from the street in the Spring and for many Springs to come”, says Jeff.

The Hepburn Shire Council will employ staff to plant the remaining community bulbs. Bulbs will be planted in areas including the vacant grass areas outside the Daylesford Primary School, at the main roundabout Howe and Vincent streets and around the ash trees in Vincent Street near the school and on the the other side of the roundabout past the former IGA up to Raglan Street.

Among those who took up the idea were Adrian Thia and husband Craig Mutton. Adrian had already started a “Things you are grateful for” Facebook page for his company Le Yoga “to help keep everybody in a good headspace” and said he saw the project on the same platform.

“I think a lot of people who move to this region, are quite drawn to the whole community spirit sort of thing, so when the guys at the nursery started this it was almost a no-brainer to support what they wanted to do. And I guess plants always give such a positive light to a new event.”

Adrian said he was also impressed with the idea of a bag for yourself, a bag for your community and a bag for your neighbour.

“Sometimes we get too lazy to even pop next door and say hi so I thought that was quite a good idea. And it is also a positive way of using social media. Sometimes you can get overloaded with the same news, you live in your bubble, but then it is quite nice to have someone doing something different for a change.

“And it was a great day for planting as well.”

Jen Latta, owner of DOS Deli, got busy planting with staff member Jen O’Keefe.

“It was such a lovely initiative by Jeff and Donna. I think it pulled the community together because we all literally wanted something to ‘cheer’ for after a very tough few weeks,” Jen said.

“Whether your work or livelihood has been affected, or just your mental health from the world changing overnight, it was really nice to focus on something that will bring joy in the future rather than just kicking into survival mode.”

The erlicheer is from the jonquil family of flowers and has highly fragrant clusters of cream blooms. Also known as multi-headed daffodils, as their name suggests, they are generally one of the first of the Spring bulbs to flower, often beginning in late Winter. They are best planted in late April or early May and keep flowering for many years.

Words: Kyle Barnes | Images: Contributed

Pictured:

Image 1: left Adrian Thia, right, Craig Mutton

Image 2: L-R below, Jen Latta and Jen O’Keefe