Celebrate Autumn - at Garden Party with a difference!
Event description
Enjoy a wander in one of Orange’s most impressive formal gardens - ANFIELD GARDENS.
Whether you are a budding gardener or not, you will enjoy this garden party with a difference.
Michael Bligh, one of Australia's most experienced and qualified garden designers will entertain you with an interactive presentation and Walk and Talk session around Anfield Gardens.
All proceeds go to Country Education Foundation Orange and District.
Your ticket includes entry to the open garden, entertainment by CEF grant recipients, a gourmet picnic lunch from Factory Espresso, a glass of local wine from See Saw wines, savoury and sweet treats plus a bottle of water.
Exclusive prizes will be auctioned on the day and there will be an array of local artisan stalls.
So, bring your partner and friends, don your best hat and garden gear, and enjoy a day with us at Anfield Gardens.
We welcome your donation if you are unable to join us. Please see ticket sales options.
ENTRY BY TICKET ONLY. No walk-ins on the day.
Ticket Price: $100.00
Cash will be useful for raffles.
Major Silent Auction item - Exquisite art piece by the renown local paper artist Colleen Southwell, The Garden Curator. @thegardencurator
Bar (with beer!) facilities available.
Please note that this is a dog free event.
Anfield Gardens
From its modest beginnings in 2010 with just a couple of blue gums on the property, Anfield Gardens, just 10 minutes from the centre of Orange NSW, has transformed into a thriving landscape in 2024. With 350 trees and shrubs, a formal vegetable garden, kitchen herb garden, stone fruit, and citrus orchard, olive grove, and a small Shiraz vineyard, the garden has become a diverse and flourishing haven.
The ornamental trees at Anfield Gardens not only offer a stunning autumn spectacle throughout the property but also include unique specimens like the Lone Pine from the Australian War Memorial, a Wollemi Pine, and Californian Redwoods strategically placed across the garden, adding a distinctive touch to the landscape.
Anfield Gardens boasts enchanting rose gardens featuring our favorite David Austin roses. The property is adorned with numerous perennial flowering plants, creating a vibrant tapestry of colours and textures. Don't miss the allure of the perennial garden room, a special space that adds to the garden's charm.
Anfield Gardens is not just a visual delight, it's a self-sustaining ecosystem. With beehives producing honey, a chook house ensuring a plentiful supply of eggs, and a large dam stocked with Silver Perch, the property embraces a harmonious blend of nature and sustainability. The touch of enchantment is complete with resident garden fairies, adding a whimsical charm to the old gum tree.
The diverse elements, from rose gardens to bee hives, create a vibrant and sustainable environment. Explore more on their Instagram page #AnfieldGardens for a captivating visual inspirational journey.
Michael Bligh, Landscape Architect
Michael was brought up at "Pejar Park", a grazing property near Goulburn where his mother, the gardening author Beatrice Bligh, created one of Australia's finest gardens. In 1965, it was considered the Champion Homestead Garden of N.S.W.
Today, Michael is well known as one of the most experienced and qualified garden designers in Australia. During the last 40 years he has been personally involved with the design of well over 4,500 gardens located throughout rural and metropolitan Australia.
Having gained the degree Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Canberra, Michael established his practice based in Goulburn which specialises in the design of town and country gardens and parklands throughout Australia.
The practice has been involved with some of Australia's finest gardens. A growing number are regularly visited by such groups as the Australian Garden History Society and the National Trust, with over 45 chosen as part of the former Open Gardens Australia. Examples of significant gardens the practice has been involved with include Greenbriar Park near Mittagong, Talgai Homestead near Toowoomba, Tahara South near Wagga Wagga and Leylandergreen near Bowral.
As an indication of the quality of work Michael's firm provides, a number of their gardens have been featured in magazines such as Belle, Highlife, Landscape Australia, Trend, Capital, Highlands Country Living and the Italian magazine Abitare which is sold throughout the world.
Michael was commissioned by the publishers Random House to write the first chapter of their book entitled the Australian Gardening Encyclopedia. This substantial chapter of 15,000 words focuses on the design and layout of private gardens.
For a number of years Michael's firm was invited to display their work at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and was awarded 'Best Horticultural Exhibit' for three of those years.
Michael has lectured widely throughout eastern and outback Australia on various aspects of garden design, is a former Executive Committee member of the Australian Garden History Society, a Corporate Member of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, former Deputy Chairman of the ACT/Southern NSW branch of Open Gardens Australia and former Patron of The Friends of Riversdale, a National Trust property at Goulburn.
Michael is married with three children, a keen tennis player, trekker and skier being a former Captain of the Ski Club of Australia and is developing his own parkland and garden, Summerhill at Goulburn which has been open to the National Trust and the former Open Gardens Australia.
Michael Bligh & Associates Pty Ltd