Big on blooms: Peter brightens the community with his roses

Resthaven Northern Community Services client, Mr Peter Townsend, estimates he has given away around 300 rose blooms in the past month.

Carefully arranged into beautiful bouquets, Peter has been handing them out to grateful recipients whom he knows through his daily routines, volunteering, and active social life.

The roses have come from Peter’s front garden in Golden Grove, and he nurtures them each year in memory of his late wife, Marilyn. The couple moved to the house in the early 2000s.

At the time, miniature roses were a feature of the garden, but Marilyn requested they be replaced with bushes so the blooms could be picked. Peter obliged, and over the next few years, they set about planting out 34 bushes in the front garden and down the side of the house. The garden brought Marilyn much joy, and she would cut flowers from the bushes to display inside. Sadly, Marilyn died in 2009.

Pointing to a red rose with pride of place, Peter says, ‘This was her favourite one. My favourite is this orange and red one [next to it]. Both of these roses are bred from bushes at Louis XIV’s garden at the Palace of Versailles in France.

Pointing out another, he says, ‘This white rose is called Amazing Grace,’ Peter says. ‘Amazing Grace was her favourite song. All the roses here are in memory of her, but this one is particularly special.’

Prior to moving to Golden Grove, the couple lived in Whyalla. Peter and his family moved from England when he was a boy, arriving in Whyalla, where his father had secured employment.

‘One of the things my dad wanted to do in Australia was to buy his own home,’ Peter says. ‘My parents were able to achieve this, and then my dad turned to the idea of growing our own food. We had every type of fruit tree you could imagine, as well as vegetables. My job was to water the garden and do the weeding. I quite enjoyed the watering – especially sitting under one of the trees while the hose ran onto the roots – but I didn’t enjoy the weeding.’

Peter later took up an engineering traineeship with BHP. Marilyn worked there in the office, and the pair met when they were in their early 20s. They were married four years later.

At their home, Peter flexed his green thumb and established their own large vegetable garden.

‘You can grow anything in Whyalla as long as you give it plenty of water,’ Peter says. ‘Our veggie garden did very well, and there was always plenty for the family, as well as neighbours etc. I remember walking down the street with buckets of tomatoes to give away to people!’

The family lived in Whyalla for many years, but after the children had grown up, Peter left the steelworks and took up opportunities as a project manager for heavy engineering projects. Peter’s skills were sought after, and he found work in New Zealand, Newcastle, Arizona, Brisbane, Port Hedland, China, Olympic Dam, and Melbourne.

These days, he volunteers for local groups, the Friends of the Cobbler Creek Recreation Park, the Tea Tree Gully Heritage Museum, and the Wynn Vale Community Garden.

Peter attends Resthaven Northern Community Services for podiatry and physiotherapy services, and physiotherapist Megan is a recent lucky recipient of Peter’s bouquets.

‘She helps me to keep moving,’ Peter says.

And what is the key to Peter’s amazing blooms? ‘Well, according to all the books, I over-fertilise and I over-water,’ Peter laughs. ‘But it works for me!’

Thank you, Peter, for your kindness and generosity in giving away these beautiful blooms. They are works of art, and we are sure Marilyn would be very pleased to know the roses continue to bring joy to many in the community.