Rare Plants Expo at Tesselaar Gardens a success

On February 23 and 24, the second annual Gardening & Rare Plants Expo was held at the Tesselaar Gardens in Victoria .

The event changed names in 2007, from Garden Living Expo to Gardening & Rare Plants Expo and shifted its focus from an outdoor living exhibition to one focused on new, rare and unusual plants. The revamped event has proven to be more popular, as shown by the increase in crowd numbers.

A main theme of the expo was “meet the experts”. Throughout the weekend visitors were able, and encouraged, to meet directly with the growers who had their product on display.

Predictions of gale force winds and cool weather made things look a bit dim prior to the event. However, the wind stayed away (mostly) and the temperature was reasonably mild. There was rain, but gardeners are a tough lot and it was welcomed rather than abhorred. Tesselaar has said it would be happy to host future outdoor events in an effort to finish the drought!

Throughout the weekend industry leaders shared their knowledge with visitors as part of a two day talk programme. The sessions were compared by Stephen Ryan who, combining his good humour and vast plant knowledge, kept the crowds entertained. A great mix of food and music also made for a jovial atmosphere. The local Silvan CFA cooked more than a thousand sausages which people happily chewed through, for a good cause.

All stallholders experienced increased turnover from the 2007 Gardening & Rare Plants Expo. The exhibition attracted just over 3000 people, and of those surveyed, 98 per cent said they would recommend the event to family and friends. This is a great indicator of visitor satisfaction.

Bring on next year!