Bilary Gardens in Randwick, New South Wales, Australia | Shopping & retail

Bilary Gardens

Locality: Randwick, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 427 956 146

Address: Mears Ave 2031 Randwick, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.bilarygardens.com.au

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21.01.2022 It's not always about the plants. Gardens can mean different things to us all, to me it's feeling connected in some way. It could be a gift from a loved one, a wool bale hook from the shearing shed of my Nan or a stirrup that helped lift the old man onto his favourite horse.

20.01.2022 Only one day to go and what I call the "AgQuip for Gardeners" is on for young and old. From what I have seen it looks bigger and better than last year, lets hope the weather is kind and some clear skies prevail. I have been busy getting our stand in order, it always seems to involve more time than you think. The Old Boy and Team Bilary had packing the van down to a fine art for our weekly trips to Walgett years ago (more on those days later), but a huge four day show can become a bit daunting. Here is a few in-progress pics, the dodgy wheaten hay cost me $15 a bale - I laughed at myself for paying a ridiculous city price. Anyway, at least it smells like home.

19.01.2022 We are getting very excited at the prospect of exhibiting at the show again this year. It will be bigger than Ben Hur in it's second year and I recommend it to anyone with the slightest interest in all things gardening. Bilary Gardens are in stand 44, with plenty to see including Elevated Gardens, small area styling, interesting herb and succulent gardens, cool giftware and plenty of fun. Follow or like to keep up with all future updates!

16.01.2022 Hello all Bilary Gardeners and please accept my apology for a bit of a lull between posts. Things have been a bit crazy around here since the garden shows, not only trying to grow business but also renovating our place and enjoying the new surroundings and points of interest. One of which is Randwick Racecourse, where I love to stroll around admiring the amazing gardens and athletic horses. Apparently there is the odd bar and betting facilities in there somewhere too. Across ...Continue reading

12.01.2022 A belated very happy Mothers Day to all our beautiful Mums out there. I hope you were all spoilt rotten, showered with love and got to relax and enjoy your day your way. Rarely did the Old Girl (my Mum) get to relax on Mothers Day. Of course we spoilt her and showered her with love and cups of tea, but the nature of the Nursery industry dictated that we were always working on Sundays. Another issue was that either the Walgett or Wee Waa show (attended with a van full of pla...nts) seemed to fall around this date which put extra pressure on the staff roster of Bilary Nursery. The preceding couple of weeks was great fun with boxes and boxes of chrysanthemums arriving full of bloom in a vast array of colours. With every year there seemed to be more varieties turning up so each delivery promised something special. The Old Boy and I were like kids on Christmas morning discovering these beautiful new plants, hoping to sell the lot before they lost their shine and ended up in the sale heap. The Old Girl would raid this sale heap, especially after Mothers Day, adding to her ever growing collection of lost souls repotted and housed in Old Grans greenhouse. More often than not with a prune, a feed, some time and attention these plants would bounce back to their former glory. So, if you did receive a potted chrysanthemum this Mothers Day dont despair when the flowers start looking a bit dodgy, it just needs a bit of tender loving care from its new Mum. I feel a bit parental at the moment as the Bilary Gardens website is now LIVE! Check it out at http://www.bilarygardens.com.au/ The first step in an online gardening store for all.

06.01.2022 Every Wednesday night at Bilary, most times in the middle of dinner our delivery truck would arrive to the delight of the Old Boy. We would down knives and forks and meet Robbie the truck driver (always adorned in stubbies and thongs, even when there was frost on the ground) at the back of the nursery to survey the waxed trays and boxes of fresh plants that had made the trek from Queensland suppliers. No one was safe when it came to unloading trucks. If you happened to be in... the vicinity of Bilary on a Wednesday evening, it was an unwritten law to drop everything and put your boots on. All the nieces and nephews, inlaws, outlaws, girlfriends, ex-girlfriends, future girlfriends, future wives, boyfriends and of course good mates who just turned up for a beer were all called to action. The Old Boy would ask the same questions and crack the same jokes with Robbie every week, maybe adding more in if he had a crowd. Hows the family Rob?, Did you come through much rain?, Ill get up there in the truck with you one day, Ive never seen a better plant mover, you could have been a ballerina, How many trays did Moree get this week?. All the while leaning on the back of the truck with smoke in hand, peering inside to see what other nurseries had purchased. I can still remember that smell of greenery hitting me in the face when the truck doors swung wide open. It was exciting, but also very scary as I never quite knew just how much stock the Old Boy had ordered through the week. With every extra tray I unloaded, the more sweat would line my brow. Not from hard work but with anxiety and stress about the chance of selling all this extra stuff, and the ability of our bank account to stay somewhere in the black. The elderly nurseryman would just sit back and say with a bemused look Gees I dont remember ordering that or That must be a mistake and It must be for another nursery. Funny how these mystery orders just happened to turn up at our place most weeks. Also funny that nearly every week, these mysterious orders of extra and random plants always sold. You cant beat experience. I have found myself in a similar boat lately, not getting truckloads of plants but trying to find products to sell at the upcoming garden shows we are attending and to sell on the website later on. Its exciting to be back in the retail game and very scary deciding on what would suit best and sell even better. My mind races, asking myselfWhats the quality like? Will anyone else have this? Will it turn up before September? Maybe I shouldnt over think it and just order whatever feels right at the time and hope my bank account can cover it. Or maybe a mysterious delivery truck will arrive one night, in the middle of dinner with a box from a mistaken order full of weird and wonderful things. Things I would never have thought to order, selling better than an Old Boy special. See more

06.01.2022 Dont you just love the surprises you get in the garden? I vaguely remember planting these bulbs as a border for a bunch of tulips that I thought would be the crowning glory of the garden - people would be coming from suburbs around just to see my horticultural handiwork I thought. When you have lived most of your life in a part of the world that has yearly temperature extremes ranging from -3 degrees to 46 degrees, tulips arent the easiest thing to grow, hence when I moved ...to Sydney I was very excited to create my own little field to rival Holland. Of course that didnt work to my expectations! But I tell you what, I had a win with these crocus. Botanical name Zephranthes candida, they can be known as Autumn Crocus, Storm Lily, or Storm Crocus because they seem to pop up after rain. They are so tough and reliable you can dig them up and separate around the yard or pots without any losses. I have been trudging around in this garden for ages without a sign of them and after a touch of rain last week here they are (sorry Bushies, I hope it pours down for you soon). They come in pink and yellow as well but I prefer the old favourite. You can generally buy them in pots throughout the year or you should be able to purchase them now in bulb form. Or borrow from your friends and neighbours when its easy digging. Speaking of bulbs, get stuck into your Spring flowering varieties now. Daffodils, tulips, freesias, anemones, gladioli, jonquils there are actually too many to mention with new colours, shapes and sizes turning up each year on the market. If you need a hand deciding on what to try or some bulb growing tips (even tulips), please dont hesitate to get in touch. Also, I am very excited to report that the Bilary Gardens website is only a few weeks away. Next post I will have more information for you, so until then go carefully and happy digging! See more

05.01.2022 Next up is the Better Homes and Gardens Live show at Homebush this weekend. Please use this link to save a bit of cash on your ticket price. http://www.bhglive.com.au/friends You will find us on stand G197, outside near the stage where Graham Ross, Dr Harry and Jason Hodges will be showering you with information and showing you how it's done. Last year was huge, I had trouble staying on the stand because there was too much to look at everywhere else. The Old Boy also had a ha...bit of wandering off at all the different shows, fetes and fundraisers we attended. He would come back laden with cakes, tea towels, wooden toys or some unusual creation from a backyard shed out West. "You have to support everyone" he would say. Some days I wondered whether we would turn up at home with more in the van than when we left, and with less money. The apple certainly didn't fall far from the tree. I will try to be good at Olympic Park this weekend and sell more than I purchase. We will have wallgarden kits ready to take home, Elevated Gardens models, more cool enamel pieces which were in demand last show, the Gardener Gift Bag and some beautiful wooden handle secatuers that have just shown up. Let's hope the weather stays pleasant this week, see you there! See more

03.01.2022 The Original Vertical Garden. The Old Boy (my father Bill) had a bit of a thing for Stag and Elkhorns. The original Bilary Nursery was adorned throughout, with both species living happily amongst the Brigalow and Broad Leaf Box trees. He loved emptying the teapot or throwing banana skins up into the mouth of the plants, and always said that slow, soaking rain over a few days was the best thing for them. I remember taking delivery of many baby plants over the years, they would... arrive loose in cardboard boxes from the coast ready to be prepared for sale. They ranged in size from bread and butter to dinner plates and I would carefully attach the plants to backing boards with tie wire, placing damp newspaper or sphagnum moss at their back to ensure a smooth transition to a new life. But I had to be quick. Now, The Old Boy wasnt renowned for his speed across the ground but when there was a new box of stag/elkhorns to be discovered he moved quicker than a chocoholic on an Easter egg hunt. Diving into the box to choose the biggest and best for his personal collection, he would dart around the nursery like a cartoon character in fast forward, hammer in hand, galvanised roofing nails sticking out of his mouth, whacking the healthy specimens onto trees in a not too delicate (or well planned) fashion. Thank God there were no nail guns around in those days. Needless to say that by the time I arrived to display these amazing plants for sale, there were less than half the number stated on the invoice and the box looked like an echidna had hosted a party in it. Upon questioning the loss and damage of this valuable delivery, a certain elderly nurseryman would look at me blankly, blaming the rogue goanna he saw in the chook yard the other day, Fred the emu, Rose the pet kangaroo or perhaps the famous Pilliga Yowie had paid us a late night visit. So, we never made much money out of the staghorn/elkhorn venture at Bilary Nursery but over the years the galvanised nail attached babies turned into huge adults, some stags big enough to shelter kids during a shower of rain. These pictures are of some original Bilary specimens, taken down and spread across the family when the Nursery closed. Mine are loving the coastal conditions, maybe not as warm as their birth place on the North Coast, nor as extreme as their middle years in Wee Waa but they are very healthy and happy. I am sure the Old Boy would also be happy that his favourite plants have made their way around the countryside being cared for by his family. I absolutely love having a little bit of Dad at my place, as do the stags and elks, without of course the threat of goannas, crazy emus, Yowiesand galvanised roofing nails.

02.01.2022 Halfway through the show and we are having a ball. The weather hasn't been fantastic but it hasn't stopped the fair dinkum garden community from venturing out into the elements. People from all over the countryside are attending, checking out some amazing gardens, displays and of course retail exhibitors. You get to chat with industry legends such as Graham and Linda Ross, Indira Naidoo, Don Burke and the human beard himself, Costa from Gardening Australia. I met a great farm...ing couple from West Wyalong who have just created and packaged lucerne hay pellets for use in the garden, called Majors Mulch. It's always a pleasure to chat with bushies. As I write this it is pouring with rain, but lets hope it clears enough so sunscreen is needed. Hopefully the pictures give you an idea of what we are up to, if you see anything you like (staff not included), drop me a line and we can arrange delivery for you. I hope it's raining where it's needed. See more

01.01.2022 Before the nursery opened the Old Boy would always take us to sport, not only on weekends but also many times for school teams when it was hard to find a willing volunteer. I would panic about running late every time but Dad would always make the statement thatIve been driving kids to sport for over thirty bloody years and havent been late once. Of course we were always on time. We would travel the countryside playing a multitude of sports, mainly cricket and footy but s...ometimes AFL, soccer, tennis, swimming, golf and even water polo. Any sport was possible if we could get more time out of the classroom. I still remember Mick McLeod playing his first game of AFL in Moree, trying to understand the crazy rules and not kill someone with a rugby league tackle frowned upon in the Victorian game. It wasnt pretty but we always had a ball. Post nursery opening, Betty Currey used to go the long way around from Wee Waa to Narrabri (the back way, then a mainly dirt road) to pick me up for cricket or footy on Saturday mornings. As the nursery industry dictates, weekends were the busiest trading days so the Old Boy and Girl couldnt get away for kids sport. If an important game was on they would try their hardest but most times it was Mrs Currey who would come to the rescue in the transport stakes. Her son Andrew and I were always in the same teams so I spent many years in the Currey household and car. He went on to represent Australia in athletics, I am still talking about the under 12 soccer grand final win against the Narrabri Pelicans in 1982. I ran into Betty recently at the Wee Waa show. Unfortunately I didnt get to sample her famous caramel tarts at the CWA stand however I did get to see her prize winning roses in the pavilion. It made me wonder whether the Old Boy sold her that very bush which produced such a beautiful bloom, and how many of the other exhibits started out at Bilary Nursery. The romantic side of me hopes that most did. I reckon Bettys may have. She was a regular visitor to Bilary, most times sitting out the back on a four gallon tin near the potting mix heap chatting to The Old Boy. I would say that none of these chats were about horticulture. The Old Boy would give her advice about how to live better after a stroke by Going straight into the doctors and get some happy pills!, lend a comforting ear or trade parenting and grandchildren stories. The Old Girl would then put the kettle on and we would continue to reminisce about old times, sporting highs and lows, life and dirt roads. Hopefully whilst devouring some of Bettys scrumptious homemade goodies. When I saw her recently she told me that she always felt so much better after those chats out the back and how much she missed The Oldies. I had to agree of course. She also made me realise just how special the old nursery was and that it definitely wasnt just about the plants and potting mix. See more