THERE’S nothing bland about Bland Shire according to wildflower expert, Australia Day local nominee and 91-year-old Elsie Allison.
The area boasts an abundance of flowers year round.
Creator of the famous “Wildflower Walk” and community enthusiast Elsie spreads her love for all things nature each year with people from across the country.
She’s been nominated for three Australia Day awards for her efforts in the community and her passion for local wildflowers.
Elsie, alongside her husband Allan, said the nominations made her believe in what she does.
“It was an honor to be nominated for three awards, it proves the Wildflower Walk is a worthy cause,” Elsie said.
The annual September Bland Shire Wildflower Walk is an opportunity for visitors to take a day and explore the native plants and rare orchids in full flower. The walk takes in the sites of Gubbatta and Naradhan.
Elsie said the Bland Shire boasts an array of native vegetation and under-rated flora, which she discovered when she moved there as a young married woman.
“We came down to West Wyalong in 1956 from the Forbes and Parkes region. We put in for a lease in West Wyalong and won a block of land for five years. It was a wet year that year, much like 2016 was, so we had to get through flood waters to arrive at our new property,” she said.
“When we first got here the property was wild. It was very unkempt so my husband started clearing it with his bulldozer. Despite that I was in awe of the flowers that were growing.
“These flowers grew from the ground up to the top of trees – they grew all year round.
“I was entranced by the flowers that could grow in droughts and flood, they were everywhere and flourished no matter what.”
She bought every native plant book available on her weekly travels to town for groceries but they never quite satisfied her hankering for more information.
“Native plant books were far and few those days, so it was hard.”
After locals got wind of her love for wildflowers and jumped aboard her cause.
By sourcing books and other information to Elsie, her friend Donna Johnson from Lake Cowal gave her a list of plants she’d found.
She soon joined forces with botanist Ann Mitchell who Elsie claims taught her everything she knows.
Ann started a garden club more than 50 years ago and Elsie played a major role alongside her.
Wildflower hunting and research was all to be apart of the club.
“For years Ann had collected information, photos and books about native flowers and plants and when she passed away she left me all our collaborated work.”
After moving from their leased property they bought a farm on Lake Cargelligo road, where Elsie could begin to explore new flora and fauna.
In the year 2000 Elsie and the rest of the garden club created the “Wildflower Walk”.
“We got about 20 people along the first year then everyone started to jump aboard and it kept growing in the years following,” she said.
“The Bland Shire and the Lake Cowal Native Reserve came into it and joined the team by giving us a free bus and a barbecue lunch.”
2016 was the only year they had to postpone the walk due to wet weather conditions.
Elsie and Allan have since moved to the outskirts of town and their eldest daughter took over their previous farm.
Elsie has three daughters, the eldest of which, Maree Stockman, lives in West Wyalong and assists her mother with the Wildflower Walk.
Maree now lives on the farm on Lake Cargelligo road, Elsie still goes back to the farm to reminisce.
Maree’s daughter Linda Thomas also has a keen interest in native vegetation and cherishes the knowledge she gained from her grandmother.
“Linda and her children are wildflower fanatics, so the tradition is getting passed down to my great grandchildren,” she said.
Maree and Linda venture with Elsie on the annual Wildflower Walk.
Her other two daughters, Gayle and Lyn, have since moved from the West Wyalong area but still believe their mother’s efforts are admirable.
Although her love for flowers has been life-long she still can not pick her favourite flower.
“They are all beautiful, it would be too hard to pick a favourite.”
With albums sprawled throughout her home of the collections she has made over the years around the shire.
A green house harboring some of her favourite plants she has found along her expeditions.
At 91 years of age she finds the time to go and explore more plants in the area and plan the annual Wildflower Walk.
The wildflower walker said she hoped to instill enough love for native flora in her daughters and granddaughters.
Elsie hoped they can continue to do the famous Wildflower Walk in the Bland Shire, for years to come.