List members may be interested in this month's Sale Historical Society's activity, and excursion to the Jean Galbraith 'Garden in a Valley' garden at 'Dunedin' at Tyres (outside Traralgon), on Sunday October 17th. Member Laurie Smythe will drive our bus, which will leave from the Sale Museum, Foster Street at 1.30pm. There will be a small charge to cover the cost of the bus, entry to the garden and Devonshire tea. As places on the bus are very limited, it is necessary to contact me (Ann Synan) to ensure a place. I Have included details, and some information about Jean from the Society's October newsletter - Ann Synan �CORREA� - JEAN GALBRAITH OF 'DUNEDIN' 'Dunedin' at Tyers was the home of Jean Galbraith, noted Gippsland botanist, writer and gardener, for almost 80 years. Her family selected land at Tyers in the 1870s, and Jean�s parents moved to 'Dunedin' in 1914. It was from her mother and father that Jean learned, at a very early age, to germinate seeds and to tend plants. This garden, which began as a family pleasure became her lifetime�s work and passion. We read of the development of the garden at Dunedin through Jean�s articles, published regularly in the Garden Lover for over 50 years, under her pen name �Correa�. Many of these articles formed the basis of her �Garden in a Valley�, first published in 1939, and more recently reproduced. Through these works, the reader can follow the development of this wonderful garden - the rose walk, the hedge, the orchard, the rock garden. It is possible to also see Jean�s love of plants growing under the example of her parents, and feel the excitement of Father bringing home a new type of daffodil to be planted, and its flower eagerly awaited the following spring, or bringing home a barrow load of tree ferns, in a time when it was still possible to do this, necessitating the building of the Bush House. Boxes of flowers were packed carefully, wrapped in damp newspaper, to be sent by train to the Austin Hospital to cheer long staying patients, and it was through this connection that the Galbraith family befriended the man they called �the artist�, Walter Thornby. He lived in �the sleep-out� at 'Dunedin' for some years, and despite his illness, contributed to the development of the garden. Jean made lifelong friends of botanist H B Williamson and his family, whom she met as an eager young girl at the Field Naturalists� Club of Victoria�s wildflower show. He helped her identify plants, and fostered her interest in botany, in a manner in which she herself mentored others, in particular, botanical artist Joan Law Smith. Jean�s association with the Field Naturalists lasted the whole of her lifetime. Jean worked closely with the National Herbarium at Melbourne�s Botanical Gardens. With her extensive knowledge of plants and birds, Jean passionately promoted an appreciation of native Australian plants and was an ardent and tireless supporter of their conservation. She wrote prolifically, for the 'Garden Lover', maintaining a regular column over many years, and in her later years, for 'The Age'. Her 'Wildflowers of Victoria' was published in 1950, and reprinted a number of times. 'Field Guide to the Wildflowers of South-East Asia' (1967) became an invaluable handbook for those interested in indigenous flora, and amongst her other works were 'A Gardener�s Year' (1987) and 'A Garden Lover�s Journal' (1989). Jean remained at Dunedin until entering a retirement village in 1993, and for a time after this, her beloved garden became overgrown and neglected, until purchased in recent years by Max and Ollie Archbold. Her house has been restored and the garden re-discovered, with its jonquils, daffodils, cyclamens and rare bulbs and shrubs. Her Via Rosarius along the long central path remains, with its fragrant old fashioned roses - 'Mme Chatenay', 'Sunny South', 'Ophelia', 'Daydream'. Remnants of the orchard can be seen, reminding the visitor of the variety of peaches, cherry plums - the first to flower in spring - 'Delicious', 'Reinnette', 'Northern Spies', 'Rhymer', 'McMahon�s White' being only some of the varieties of apples grown. The rear of the house is shaded by an enormous and spreading oak, under which family gatherings were held at Christmas times. Scrapbooks, original copies of the Garden Lover, family items, and Jean�s treasured microscope are beautifully displayed in the house, for visitors to enjoy. ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com