Native Plants for NSW -
July 2023
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Grevillea 'Miami Pink' (H Miles) |
From the President
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Dear {Contact_First_Name},
With the weather cooling down we have significant differences among our district groups as to the plants of significance for the season. In the Southern Highlands there are many people who believe that we have a cold climate and therefore we should have an English style garden. Our District Group is gradually trying to change this mindset and although not fully successful there are signs of a greater appreciation of the role that Australian plants can play. As part of this change we are assisting the CWA maintain and develop the garden surrounding their hall, which we hire for meetings.
I hope that all members are keeping their diaries updated and I hope to see as many members as possible at upcoming gatherings. There is a gathering hosted by Illawarra Group on 11 September and the annual APS NSW weekend away from 17 to 19 November in Goulburn, hosted by Southern Tablelands District Group. This is always a fantastic opportunity to catch up with others. And for those wishing to travel further afield the biennial national conference is on in Melbourne in September next year.
John Desmond, President
eNewsletter Contents:
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Northern Beaches - Meeting & talk: A beginner's guide to local native orchids
When: 6th July 2023, 7:15pm
Where: The Corkery Building, Stony Range Regional Botanic Garden, 810 Pittwater Rd, Dee Why Wendy Grimm's presentation will focus on orchids you may have already seen in flower this year and the species that are yet to flower. More details here
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Glossodia minor (W Grimm) |
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North Shore Group - Walks and Talks When: 9:45am Mondays Where: Ku-ring-gai wildflower garden
Hear a talk by members of the North Shore group of the Australian Plants Society then be guided on a walk in the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden to see and learn about our focus species as they come into flower.
July 17- Walk only July 24- Gum Trees: Eucalyptus, Angophora, Corymbia (Family Myrtaceae)
July 31- Grevillea and Hakea (Family Proteaceae)
More details here |
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North Shore - Meeting & talk: Gardening Responsibly
When: 14th July 2023 7pm for 7:30 Where: Beatrice Taylor Hall, behind Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre, 25 Edgeworth David Avenue, Hornsby
When people plant a garden, they believe they are doing something good for the environment and most of the time they are. Julia Rayment, Project Officer, Weeds, National Parks and Wildlife Service, explains that however sometimes the plants they choose can become invasive weeds.
More details here |
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Grevillea dielsiana (T Lea) |
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Illawarra Grevillea Park open days
When: 1st/2nd/8th/9th July 2023 10-4pm
Where: Grevillea Park Road, Bulli New South Wales 2516, Australia
Expansive native display gardens; rainforest walk and sensory trail; picnic areas
Extensive range of natives for sale including tubestock and grafted plants
Want advice? – bring your questions and we will do our best to help!
Adults $7 Children under 12 free; Dogs on leash welcome
More details here |
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Pultenaea rosmarinifolia (S McLaren) |
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Australian pea flower study group - 'Pea Forage'
When: 19th & 20th August
Where: Central coast, various locations
Join the Pea Flower study group for the inaugural Pea Forage on the Central Coast of NSW in August. This is an opportunity to learn how to recognise pea flowers and identify different genera, or simply enjoy the hunt.
More details here
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APS get togethers
16 September - gathering at the Corrimal Community Centre, hosted by the Illawarra Group. There is now a full program available, please get in and register ASAP- some activities have limited numbers. Details here
17-19 November - annual weekend get together at Goulburn hosted by the Southern Tablelands Group. Activities include bushwalks, guided tour of the wetlands, talks and garden visits. Join us for dinner on Saturday , and hear a talk by Dr. Brian Faulkner, Biodiversity Assessment Officer Goulburn-Mulwaree Council on Threatened species of the Goulburn-Mulwaree district. Registration required by 10th November. Cost: $35 for APS members for the event, plus $58 for dinner. More details here |
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Native Plants Queensland State Conference
When: 14-18th September 2023
Where: Cairns
Normally, Native Plant State Conferences occur biennially in the alternative year to National Conferences, however due to Covid they have not held a State Conference for some years. Places are limited so please submit your application asap to avoid disappointment.
More details here |
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Re-greening our country and saving our species - planting events
When: Various weekends and week days, August - October 2023 Where: 'Moorlands' farm, Biala, NSW. By joining the Oatley Flora and Fauna Conservation Society members, who are planting 5,500 native trees and shrubs in the coming spring, you can add to the essential habitat for the endangered Superb Parrot which is breeding at ‘Moorlands’ located in the South West Slopes of NSW.
More information and registrations here |
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Planning is underway for the ANPSA Biennial Conference in Melbourne in 2024. See here for more information, save the dates! |
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And finally, don't forget there is a full listing of all APS NSW events including district groups on our website here |
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Achieving a New Civic Australian Style Garden |
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At the May 2023 APS NSW gathering in Kariong, hosted by the Central Coast APS group, Olga Blacha gave us a fascinating talk titled: ‘Achieving a new civic Australian style garden’ If you didn't hear this fascinating talk at the gathering, you can catch up on the key points here. We also have a report on the bushwalk and nursery visit from the day here There's some information too on how the beautiful native garden surrounding Phillip House, the venue of the meeting, was created. You might like to read that here.
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Kariong walk (B Melville) |
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Finished graft (C Bate and P Trickett) |
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Grafting using the cutting graft technique. Advantages of this method over traditional method of grafting onto rooted stock plants:
- The time and effort growing stock seedlings is unnecessary, allowing for cheap and easy experimentation which is likely to encourage greater participation in grafting.
- Growers can choose a rootstock from their own garden, from a plant which is proven to be vigorous and hardy in their conditions.
- Given practice, cutting grafts are easier and quicker than the traditional method.
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Contemporary urban communities are becoming increasingly divorced from the ‘natural’ landscape origins from which we all evolved, with consequent expanding physical and psychological problems. A garden is a special space that can restore our natural association with nature and importantly improve our health and wellbeing.
This month, Lawrie Smith OAM shares his ‘Design with Nature’ philosophy that he uses through all of the projects, and specifically the public parks and botanic gardens for which he has been responsible. Public gardens generally and Botanic Gardens particularly are places where the community can be encouraged to reconnect with nature. Learn more about how he applies this philosophy and what it means. |
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Lawrie Smith creating Fossil Concrete for the Coal Garden (L Smith) |
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Andrew Knop's property post revegetation in 2022 (A Knop)
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Whether you’ve planted trees to enhance your garden or address a salinity problem, your trees carry out many functions, such as looking beautiful, providing food and habitat for animals and insects, promoting soil health, mitigating salinity and supporting biodiversity. Penny van Oosterzee and Noel Preece have been working on how to reforest their 180 ha Atherton Tablelands property for ten years and have some great advice on how to maximise the efficiency and minimise the cost of revegetation work to gain these benefits that trees bring. |
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members of the group inspecting trees
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On Saturday 27th May 2023, eight members of the Parramatta and Hills APS District Group congregated at the country property, ‘Parragilga’, of Phil Baird, one of our members. It is in an area called The Branch, north of both the Hunter and Karuah Rivers, and east of Buckets Way, the road to Gloucester. The property once belonged to a logging family, but for a very long time has been untouched and allowed to regenerate. It is woodland with tall trees, grasses and a variable collection of not very high under-shrubs. There is remarkably little weed. Phil has had a botanist flora survey done for the council, which shows over 200 different species. Read on to find out more about their exploration of this property |
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Many Waratahs have regrown from their underground lignotubers, which allows the plant to produce lots of vegetative growth after bushfire. The lignotuber is a modified stem and can be a metre or more in length and depth, and may weigh up to a quarter of a tonne!
Last year’s flowers have set seed and the elegant seedpods, still ripening, will mature in early winter. When they finally break open, the winged seeds will be released and dispersed by the wind. It’s rare that a Waratah seed germinates and becomes a new plant. The seeds are carbohydrate rich and are therefore an attractive food source for animals, and if they do manage to germinate, they may not establish due to lack of water. When a Waratah does establish from seed, this is an important source of natural variation.
Some older Waratah leaves have taken on rich red and maroon tones due to age and weather damage, and flower buds are forming that, later in the year, will burst into the impressive red Waratah blooms that are loved not only by walkers, but also by native birds, animals and insects. |
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Telopea speciosissima (L Godden)
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It's been a while since we shared all the study group updates. Catch up on the news from Acacia, Hakea, Wallum, Australian Pea flower, Grevillea and Fern groups between Dec 2022 - March 2023 here. And catch up on what's happening with the Fern, Acacia and Grevillea study groups between April - June 2023 here.
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Grevillea gaudichaudii(Grevillea study group) |
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Final words...
Have you got any events or stories to share with the other APS NSW members? Or suggestions for the eNewsletter? We would love to hear from you, and to share stories from your district groups. Thank you to those district groups who regularly share their updates. Email us: enewsletter@austplants.com.au |
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