Wingham Nursery and Florist will turn 50 years old this October 22-23rd.
Our humble business has grown from a tiny backyard garage in Wingham, selling vegetable seedlings and flowers, to an ever-growing retail business, covering 3 residential blocks.
In 1972 Ralph and Rhonda Sawyer took a leap of faith and created their small business dream – All while raising three sons and working seven days a week.
Plus weathering hail storms, floods and drought and withstanding the recent competition of multi-national companies, who’ve swallowed up many small nurseries and hardware stores in their wake.
Wise business sense, our acclaimed customer service and our acquired Horticultural knowledge base, have all been instrumental in our longevity and retaining a large community customer base.
Three generations of the Sawyer family are involved in its management and ongoing service to the town of Wingham and the Manning Valley.
Ralph and Rhonda were joined by Chris and Tanya, Granddaughter Caitlin in 2012, while granddaughter Tawny worked through her teens at the nursery
before finally becoming a chef. Their cousins Joelan and Tcharne from Sydney, also spent many school holidays mucking about in the soil too.
With both of Ralph and Rhonda’s other sons, Michael, with his partner Jason, and Stephen and his wife Kimberley, have been regular visitors and helped out during peak season events over the years too. Michael has also weighed in on the management side more recently, as we restructure the business.
In previous decades both Ralph and Rhondas’ parents – Mick and Phyllis Gam and Dallas and Fran Sawyer – had also given a helping hand in setting up the fledgling business. From constructing ferneries and shelving, to growing cut flowers to sell. Every single chore helped to build the strong business that remains with us today. Sadly we lost the last remaining member just recently with Ralphs mum passing away, aged 103 years young. Both of Ralphs brothers Noel and Garry were also frequent visitors to the nursery.
And we cannot leave out the nursery dogs; Max, Jedda, Cobba and Reggie, nursery mascots forever!
Since gathering all of these facts, it’s not hard to see why our business has been so successful and is still going strong after 50 years.
Family……
We’ve also had many staff come and go as the business and family grew. Each and everyone of them have left their mark on the business and each one has helped to mould the business into what you see today. So, in that respect we have been very lucky and we thank every worker who has been through these doors over the last 50 years, we couldn’t have made it this far without you.
And then along came Covid 19….
As it did to everyone, Covid threw us a very huge curve-ball, with local residents mass-planting vegetable gardens and constructing fruit tree orchards. It was a hectic time to be sure.
We can honestly say…we’ve done it all now, and what a ride it’s been so far!
But as Audrey Hepburn once said, “to plant a garden, is to believe in tomorrow.”
And that is how we start each day. The hours of planning, seasonal challenges, and on-the-run decisions are what keep us going. Come rain, shine or hail, we’ll keep plugging along and keeping those veggie patches full and the lives of our customers happy and healthy while they gain some peace and therapy while toiling in their gardens.
So without further ado………
On October 22-23 we are planning a Garden Party!! We will have three competitions running….
Best Garden-Party Hat.
Floral and pretty, Mad as a Hatter, or just plain Ridiculous!
You don’t have to dress for the part, but there’ll be more points for the-whole-outfit- effort!
Best Miniature Saucer Garden.
We’ll provide a small basic kit to get you started and then you can let your imagination run wild!
Alice in wonderland, Dinosaur Den Jungle, Farmyard Fun Garden or an Ocean in a Dish!
Best Baked Goods.
That’s right, we want you to cook up your favourite baked goodies. Lamingtons, scones, cakes, slices, patty cakes and sponges.
Ralph of course will be the judge, although I’m sure there will be plenty of taste testers lined up for this category!
We’ll be handing out 5 prizes for each competition category. So get those thinking caps on and start brainstorming. Spring is such a fun time, so we thought what better time to have a garden party and celebrate our half century!!!
Over the two days we’ll have guessing competitions, specials throughout the nursery, giveaways, lucky door prizes, food and drink and much much more.
So come along and join in the fun as Wingham Nursery turns 50 years old.
(All funds raised on the day will go to the Kidney Foundation Australia.)
Tanya Sawyer