Coffs Harbour District Group

Activities

Program for 2018

Download our current Program here

Meetings

Our meetings are held in the Display Room at the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden, Main Entrance, Hardacre Street, Coffs Harbour.

APS members, guests and other interested persons are always welcome.

Tuesday March 13: 10am - 1pm

Topic: Western Australia Flora – It’s not just about the southwest!

Speaker: Morrie Duggan

The iconic flora of southwestern Australia is legendary. Probably less well known is the flora of the arid and semi-arid zone further north including the wheat-belt, Eastern Goldfields, and Great Victoria Desert areas, east and northeast of Perth across to the South Australia and Northern Territory borders.

Morrie will show some of the flowering plants seen on a 2012 trip from Central Australia across the Central Desert Road to Laverton and then to Kalgoorlie, Southern Cross, Dalwallinu, Yalgoo and Geraldton. Dominant genera include Acacia, Eremophila, Dodonaea and members of the daisy (Asteraceae) and pea (Fabaceae) plant families; with many lesser-known, but interesting species.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday April 10: 7pm - 10pm

Topic: Bonsai and Australian Natives

Speaker: Dr. Symon Dworjanyn

For many gardeners there is always a fascination for the way plants can be grown for many years in extremely small containers, and with an end result that mimics the shape and size of a full size tree. The traditional subject of such a technique was usually restricted to those of Japan – the acers and junipers, for example. What about trees from Northern NSW, Callicoma, Cryptocaria or Eucalyptus? Surely not!

Dr Symon Dworjanyn will explain some of the finer details of Bonsai and has promised to bring and show some of his own specimens. This is a must-attend evening for those who would like to know more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Field Trips

**Sunday March 25 - Visit to Rob's Garden 10am - Lunch
Address: 1066 Kalang Road, Kalang**

9.30am Meet at Yellow Shed, Bellingen to car pool

This is a 275-acre property situated in the Kalang Valley. It was purchased in the early 1980s as a retirement proposition and in 2007 things got serious when Rob and Helen retired to it from Glebe. The house was built in 2008 and since then the garden framework has been Rob’s main concern. The bones are now in and recent years have seen planting take place. There are some exotics – planted before APS entered his life – but the main work since has been natives. Many of the plantings are rainforest trees well away from the house, particularly along the riparian zone of the river.

Directions: It is suggested that people gather at the Yellow Shed, Bellingen 9.30am and carpool from there. It is reasonably straightforward – proceed through Bellingen, turn left at Church Street, go past the market site, up the hill, past the Hospital turnoff until you reach the roundabout, turn right onto Kalang Road. It is 10.2 km from that point.

The property entrance is on the right on the crest of a hill. Be careful making that turn but from there you are on a concrete driveway. Parking is on the right on the grass at the top of the rise. Morning tea will be provided, please bring your own lunch. These will be taken on the house veranda with seating provided.

Further information: Rob Watt 02 6655 0043

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Field Trip on January 28th A tour of large myrtles

Eucalyptus propinqua (L) and Corymbia henryi (R)

Barry Kemp (L) and Corymbia gummifera (R)

Conservation

In 2018, our group will be monitoring selected local threatened or endangered species (from the NSW Environment Department's Saving Our Species register) by working with local National Parks regeneration projects around Moonee Beach, just north of Coffs Harbour. Once we have gained some experience in the techniques and methodology for data collection, we can extend our efforts to other species in our area. Our initial focus will be on two local species: Sophora tomentosa and Zieria prostrata.

See NSW Department of Environment - Saving Our Species

Jan Whittle, jan64garden@gmail.com