Guests are welcome at our activities.

Meetings

We hold evening meetings on the 2nd Friday of each month February to November. Meetings will be face-to-face or by Zoom, depending on the current conditions and the location of our speaker.

Next meeting: at Beatrice Taylor Hall 11th July 2025 7.30pm for 8:00pm.

Shaun Warden 'Flora and Fauna: Why the Fuss?'

See detailed notice further down the page.

Group Outings and Activities

Usually held at a weekend, these outings visit  local gardens, reserves or other places of interest or sometimes there may be work to be done!

Next North Shore Group Activity: JULY 12^th WALK to AMERICA BAY

This month’s walk will be the America Bay Track, one of the ever popular West Head Road tracks. This is a great walk because it does not require much effort to reach a beautiful lookout over a part of Cowan Creek. It also passes through some lovely typical sandstone area bushland, where the early flowering will have started already and there are Aboriginal engravings to be seen along the way. The return walk is of less than 2 hours duration, but be warned that we will have difficulty tearing ourselves away from the restful and scenic view.

It is not a difficult walk and is fairly flat with no major climbs up or down, but nearer to the lookout destination the track does grade slightly downhill and is a bit rougher and more eroded than at the start of the walk.

Because we’ll probably not need more than 3 hours maximum to walk and sit having lunch at the lookout, we will probably decide to drive the short distance further to enjoy the magnificent view at West Head.

Where to meet: At the start of the America Bay track, 6.9 km from the Coal and Candle Drive junction.

When to meet: 10.30am at the start of the track.

What to Bring: Lunch, afternoon tea, water, good walking shoes, hat, plant ID book, walking poles?

Contact: Sue Fredrickson 0401362921 paulandsuefreddo@bigpond.com. Please notify if planning to attend. Ring before the walk to confirm that it will go ahead if the weather looks doubtful.

Walks & Talks

Walks and Talks are open to the public. See their own page, here.

Propagation, Plant Sales, The Knoll Garden and Bushcare

The Propagation group meets on alternate Wednesdays, weather permitting. Native plants are available for sale (cash only) and growing advice is provided. This activity is carried out at the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, St Ives in the white shade house located behind the Wildflower Garden Visitors Centre. See the NSG entries on the calendar on the APS NSW Activities page for propagation, plant sales and advice of dates. Contact Tania Lamble on 0415043671 for details..

Volunteers also maintain the Knoll Garden at the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, St Ives. Please contact Wendy Grimm on 0419323035  for details.

A Ku-ring-gai Council-run Bushcare group in which members participate is also active in the Garden on non-propagation Wednesdays. Contact KMC (bushcare@krg.nsw.gov.au) for details.

Next Evening Meeting

Next meeting Friday 11th July 2025 7.30pm for 8.00pm at Beatrice Taylor Hall, Hornsby.

Shaun Warden 'Flora and Fauna: Why the Fuss?'

With a deep link to wildlife rehabilitation and local provenance flora, Shaun Warden, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine candidate at the University of Sydney explains the importance of local provenance plants within the context of wildlife nutrition, habitat and conservation. Shaun is the director and founder of the Growing Food for Wildlife Project, is a wildlife rehabilitator with Sydney Wildlife Rescue and volunteers his time to run post-mortem examinations of Powerful Owl for the Powerful Owl project.

Plants for sale (when meetings are same week as Propagation), library & supper.

ALL Welcome

The Beatrice Taylor Hall is behind Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre at 25 Edgeworth David Avenue, Hornsby. There will be plant sales after the meeting (cash only, please bring change) and refreshments. The NSG Botanical library is also available for members to browse and borrow items.

Zoom meetings can be attended by non-members by contacting Sue Fredrickson to request the Zoom link. Sue can be contacted on paulandsuefreddo@bigpond.com or 0401 362 921.