In response to last week’s post about Wittunga Botanical Gardens, Nicky (marvellous supporter of this blog and its producer) responded with a link to Alison Ashby, daughter of the original owner of the property and sister to Keith, who gave the place to the Botanical Gardens in 1965. Alison was a very accomplished flower painter, plant lover and conservationist. I had only a vague knowledge of her from the postcards of her work available at the Botanical Gardens shop, but it interested me that such a dynamic woman, with such a close connection to Wittunga and her own life-long commitment to plants would not be mentioned in the information about the Gardens. Could it be an undervaluing of the role of women playing a part in this? Anyway, I found the information about her fascinating (here is the link) and so I thought I would do a little post about her. Her dedication to plants and nature, and her generosity in donating her own property (Watiparinga) in Eden Hills to the National Trust in the 1950’s are inspiring. It is interesting that the family were Quakers – whose practical social justice orientation is well known.
Here are some pictures, from the internet, of Alison and her art…
Stories of buttons and bread 