The Queensland Garden Expo held at Nambour Showgrounds over the weekend started from a grass roots event in 1984 with just 300 visitors. Now in its 35th year it has an attendance of about 40,000, with more than 60 per cent coming from outside the Sunshine Coast region.
There was 360 exhibitors and displays, as well as 120 lectures and demonstrations with the who’s who of gardening from across Australia there to keep the crowds entertained. Celebrity gardeners and experts included Sophie Thomson from Adelaide, Paul West from Melbourne and Brisbane’s Annette McFarlane and Jerry Coleby-Williams.
Gardening guru Jerry Coleby-Williams comes back year after year and said the show was the second largest gardening event in Australia.
Event Manager Marion Beazley said new speaker and entomologist Dr Tim Heard has one of the sweetest subjects, letting backyard gardeners in on the secrets of stingless beekeeping and delving into how bees can improve our lives in many ways.
“We are proud to have won several awards including the Queensland Tourism and Events Awards, a Queensland Parks and Leisure Award and just recently the Queensland winner of the Australian Events Award,” Ms Beazley said.
