WHEN COVID-19 hit in March, Marjorie Donnellan was unable to continue working so, like many other people, she began spending a lot more time in her garden.
Fast-forward to now, she has set up a small business selling plants that she has propagated from what she calls The Singing Garden.
Gardening on a combination of Benetook soil and sandy loam didn’t come easily at first for the Sunnycliffs resident.
To make matters worse, she had never gardened on a slope before and was wondering how to stop all the water disappearing from the soil.
“For the first couple of years, I thought where is all the water going?” she said.
“At first I wanted to plant all natives but then nothing seemed to grow.”
After Marjorie planted a fence of sultanas, the natives sprouted, an event she puts down to competition for sunlight.
“We did have a fence line of sultanas then, of course, some of the natives started growing up,” she said.
“Then I got really attracted to roses.”
Her love for roses has endured over the course of 2020. She now has a volunteer leadership position at the impressive Australian Inland Botanic Gardens rose garden.
Marjorie is particularly proud of her clematis-rose combination, a type she admits she doesn’t see around the region very often.
On the day Sunraysia Daily visited Marjorie’s home, it was obvious that she loved being out in her garden, regardless of the weather.
Despite her garden changing with the seasons, she isn’t overly concerned about what happens and when.
“I’m really not fussy if I don’t get around to something,” she says. “I think, ‘Oh well, I’ll do it next week!’”
Do you have a garden – or do you know someone who does – that is worthy of being featured in Sunraysia Daily? Email mtaylor@sunraysiadaily.com.au or call 5021 7137.
