Forty-five members and one visitor were welcomed to the Lakes Entrance Garden Club’s March meeting, which also saw two new members join the club.
The group received a letter from the Lakes Entrance Cemetery Trust thanking volunteers who maintain the cemetery gardens, expressing their appreciation for the ongoing efforts of club members.
Members judged the show bench, which was bright and attractive, although overall entries were smaller this month. A special highlight for March was the three flowers of the same colour section, where each bloom must come from a different species.
First place went to Ann Barker with an all-white arrangement of rose, dahlia and hydrangea, while Shirley Bardwell placed second with deep pink rose, dahlia and sedum.
The posy of flowers section proved equally popular, with Joy Davenport winning first prize for her multi-coloured dahlia posy and Shirley Bardwell placing second with a display in shades of pinks and greens. In the vegetable above ground section, Ian and Ollie Wilcox were first with a vibrant display of chillies in a beautiful chilli bowl.
The best exhibit for the day was awarded to Gwen Christopher for a fluffy, multi-coloured deep burgundy dahlia flecked with white.
Guest speaker Bec from Un-be-weed-able returned for part two of her talk on the medicinal uses of weeds, demonstrating how to make oil infusions and tinctures. She explained that cold oil infusions use dried herbs in oils such as olive, grapeseed, castor or apricot kernel and should steep for six weeks.
Hot infusions use fresh herbs and are cooked for four to six hours on low heat.
Tinctures involve soaking herbs in at least 40 per cent alcohol for six weeks to extract medicinal properties. Bec emphasised always labelling preparations clearly and checking for interactions with other medications.
Bec has over 100 herbal books, has written her own book on herbs, and offered products for sale.
The next Lakes Entrance Garden Club meeting will be held on Monday, April 20 at 1.30pm at Mechanics Hall, near the library on Mechanics Street. Visitors are always welcome.
