Historic ‘Whitley’ at Sutton Forest will be open again this year on Thursday and Friday November 12 and 13 to showcase its extensive, heritage-listed garden.

The garden is open as a charity fundraiser for two days only each November and includes an art exhibition with sale of works by local artists and owners Rob and Jenny Ferguson have again chosen to donate the proceeds to the Hospital Auxiliary to provide equipment for the Bowral Hospital.

The large garden which surrounds the original two-storey late-nineteenth century house has been lovingly tended by Jenny and three full-time gardeners. Over the past seven years it has developed from a low-maintenance garden beautifully laid out by previous owners to a more colourful and floral garden with many mature trees. Features include trimmed hawthorn hedges, a nut orchard, a secret vegetable garden, a formal parterre flower garden with gargoyle fountain, crab apple walk, massed bluebells under silver birches and some ninety year old elm and oak trees as well as the large duck pond and pavillion.

Jenny’s recently released book A Year in my Garden – flowers, food, family and friends (published by Hardie Grant) will be on sale. This is Jenny’s third book after Cooking for You and Me (published by Haynes Methuen in 1987) and A Garden, a Pig and Me (published by Hardie Grant) which was released in 1999.

The garden will be open from 9.00am to 3.30pm on both days and refreshments will be available. Entry is $10.00 and dogs on leads are welcome. Parking is opposite Whitley at The Dairy.

Whitley is situated on Oldbury Road, Sutton Forest in the Southern Highlands one and half hour’s drive from Sydney – turn off the Illawarra Highway near Moss Vale at the signpost to the Southern Highlands Winery.

Photographs in jpg format are available and will be forwarded promptly if required or visit the website -

www.whitleygarden.com.au

For more information contact Sue Lane 4868 2737 or Jenny Ferguson 4869 5858