The inaugural Paterson Allyn Garden Club ramble on Sunday, April 7 promises some special gardens for visitors to enjoy.
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For those visitors coming from the south, the first garden is just outside Paterson on one of the Hunter Valleys oldest properties Duninald.
The original house constructed in 1823, now known as Old Duninald and lovingly restored by Julia and Chris Wokes, is situated on the edge of a substantial woodland created from the 1960s onwards by one of the descendants of the Dun family, Sidney Reynolds.
With over 200 trees, including local natives, Australian natives and exotics, visitors can wander through the wood down towards the scenic billabong, home to a large number and variety of birds, and admire this wide variety of trees, which includes three rare and endangered species and a number of very historical trees.
The trees include a number of Norfolk Island hibiscus, which, according to family lore, came originally from seeds given to William Dun in 1921 by Governor Macquarie.
The one in front of Old Duninald is close to 200 years old.
As visitors work their way up the valleys, further delights await them, at the following four gardens. Local eateries in Paterson, Vacy and Gresford are primed to provide appetising refreshments and lunches, some of which can be ordered in advance.
As an additional attraction, the Paterson/Allyn garden club members will run a plant stall at St Marys on Allyn for visitors to take home an extra plant for their gardens.
Any profits will go to supporting and extending the Gresford arboretum.