Welcome to the September enewsletter |
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Native Plants for NSW – September 2021
The monthly enewsletter of the Australian Plants Society NSW |
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Medley of spring flowers (photo: Heather Miles) |
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In our September issue
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Welcome to the enewsletter
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From our President
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Remembering Tess Taylor
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Meet our volunteers
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Keeping busy in lockdown Activities – by Zoom Join our new Facebook member forum
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Conservation success stories
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Celebrating Wattle Day
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Discounted Neutrog products More reading
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Study Group updates: Acacia
- On the APS NSW website.
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Welcome to the enewsletter
With NSW under stay-at-home orders in September, there's lots to read and click on including stories for Wattle Day on 1 September and conservation success from our annual report. Each enewsletter issue is also saved as a pdf file here. Stories, photos and feedback are welcome. Please email the editor Rhonda Daniels at enewsletter@austplants.com.au |
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From our President Heather Miles
Hello all. I hope you are all continuing to keep safe. I've had my double jabs, which makes me feel a bit safer, although I'm not taking any chances.
My talk to 200 school students aged 7 and 8 went off without a hitch. Doing a Zoom with kids standing on their heads was interesting. Guess I'm not as scintillating as I thought! My presentation is in the members only section of the website called Resources for members if anyone wants to use it.
In February, we applied to have a group of UTS students work with us on our strategy and the Biennial Conference. Called UTS Shopfront, the students undertake postgraduate coursework in small to medium not-for-profits. The students chose to work with us in the final term of 2021. We are setting them an ambitious challenge – who will we be in 10 years time, how to retain members and attract younger people, how to run a highly contemporary and impactful conference in 2022, and how to make a difference in conservation. I hope it will create new thinking and approaches for us. There's lots on our strategy work this issue including a great Neutrog partnership. Contact me at president@austplants.com.au |
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Remembering Tess Taylor
We are sad to report the death of Tess Taylor, a Life Member of the Society. Tess was awarded Life Membership jointly with her husband, Les, in 1990. The award was based on both her own contribution to the Society and to advancing knowledge of Australian plants and on her support to Les in all his positions. Les was on NSW Council for 18 years, Vice President for 9 years and the manager of two of our first major shows, those at the Kings School. Both Tess and Les served on the committee of the Blue Mountains Group for decades with Les as President for 9 years. They joined the Society in the 1960s and in 1990 had only missed five Regional or Group Meetings. In later years Tess had that important position for Group activity – catering officer. Tess and Les were mainstays of both the Fern and Prostanthera Study Groups with Les being leader of the latter for 5 years. |
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Meet our volunteers
Board volunteers: Dorothy Luther and Jan Williamson Heather Miles is delighted to announce that Dorothy Luther of East Hills Group has joined the APS NSW board. Dorothy brings a wealth of experience in business as well as a passion for the bush. Dorothy is playing a key role in helping to track and implement our strategy. Meet Dorothy here (photo below).
Jan Williamson, a long term member of North Shore Group, has also agreed to assist in board meetings taking the minutes and tracking actions. Jan has had a passion for native plants all her life. What a difference her support will make to the board! Thanks Jan. Meet Jan here. |
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Plant profile volunteers: Jeff Howes and Dan Clarke
Jeff Howes and Dan Clarke are continuing to write and add more and more plant profiles to our plant database. This is a great resource on native plants for NSW gardeners. Read more about Jeff from North Shore Group here.
Dan Clarke, from Sutherland Group, is a fully qualified botanist who works as a botanical consultant. Dan undertakes flora surveys, providing information for vegetation mapping and type-determinations, and also monitors and searches for threatened flora species. Dan has been involved in several NSW Government Saving our Species projects since 2015. He is also the APS NSW conservation officer. Meet Dan here (photo below). |
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Keeping busy in lockdown – volunteering
Like something interesting to do in lockdown? We have jobs for you to help modernise APS and make it more inclusive. We are keen to talk to anyone who may be interested in assisting. Jobs may be small (a few hours of work) or more long lasting and can be tailored to your interests and energies. We are looking for help in:
- developing a curriculum of videos and workshops to help members, particularly new ones, learn about native plants: feasibility, scoping, writing, presenting, videoing or video editing
- designing and organising our calendar of activities: we'd like to offer more workshops (online and face to face in the future) on small spaces and are keen for ideas and help
- conserving plants: share your own conservation projects and help us plan what we can do as a society
- writing plant profiles and uploading them to the website
- assisting in social media: Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
If you'd like to chat about any of these jobs or others, please contact Heather Miles on hmiles1672@gmail.com or Dorothy Luther on dlutherau@yahoo.com.au
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Keeping busy in lockdown – members
Here's what some members have been up to under stay-at-home orders:
- Menai Group's Spring 2021 newsletter featured a plant-themed crossword puzzle. Download the page as a pdf here.
- Ian Cox from Parra Hills Group found a great YouTube presentation here on a platypus project nearby. They’ve been finding platypus DNA in the Cattai catchment, and some landholders have been planting native plants along the waterways to help stabilise the banks and improve the habitat for platypus. Also on ABC news here.
- Jill McLelland from Sutherland Group, of Easter Show flower arranging fame, has been creating mini vases to look at individual flowers with fresh eyes. Photo below.
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Activities – by Zoom
With stay-at-home orders for NSW, activities are cancelled or by Zoom. Check our calendar here.
Catch up on recent and older meetings on YouTube
Some groups are holding meetings online by Zoom. Check these recordings of recent meetings on our YouTube channel:
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A trip to the central west 15–18 October
Depending on stay-at-home orders, this APS trip to the central west in mid October will provide a greater understanding of native plants and habitat resilience and what individuals and groups can do to assist.
We have arranged to visit seven properties in the central west, including three properties of APS NSW members. The owners are enthusiastic to show and discuss what they have achieved.
If you are interested in joining the trip, please register here for more information. We will send you the itinerary and locations. There is no charge, but you pay your own travel, food and accommodation expenses. |
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Join our new APS NSW members-only Facebook group Would you like to connect with other APS NSW members online? While COVID prevents us meeting face-to-face, we’ve created a new virtual place for everyone to connect. Our new members-only Facebook group is now live.
The APS NSW Members Forum is different from our Facebook page, which many of you already follow. It has been created as a Facebook group which is free for all members to join. Called Australian Plants Society NSW Members Forum, it is a place to share your passion for growing and conserving native plants. You can share photos of your garden, ask for help identifying plants, seek advice from more experienced members, share news and events and get to know your fellow members (albeit online!)
As a private group, you have to request to join. Click this link here and we will let you in. We hope you'll find it a valuable way to share and contribute. |
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Conservation success stories
Our 2020 annual report featured many stories on what groups and members are doing to conserve native plants. Here are some highlights:
- caring for her local reserve by Ash Mahoney from APS Southern Tablelands, here
- revegetation of degraded properties out west by the Knops, here
- growing endemic plants for Goulburn wetlands, here
- study of Genoplesium baueri, an endangered terrestrial orchid by Wendy Grimm, here (and photo below by Wendy)
- donations of pink flannel flowers by Menai Group to botanic gardens, here
- planting trees for regenerative farming, here.
The annual report by our conservation officer Dan Clarke is here and a report by Margery Street, our representative on the Nature Conservation Council, on the NCC annual conference is here. Lloyd Hedges and Menai Group recently received a thank you letter from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for their support of the Glossies in the Mist project, here. |
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Celebrating Wattle Day
Check our previous stories celebrating Wattle Day on 1 September: - Celebrating Wattle Day, here
- Why is it 1 September by Alan Fairley, here
And our previous stories on acacias:
- Acacias at Joseph Banks Native Plants Reseve, Kareela here
- Wattles in bloom at Hunter Regional Botanic Garden here
- The rare Acacia pubescens at South Granville here
- In search of Acacia gordonii here
- How to grow acacias and other plants which require seed treatment before growing, here.
We have profiles on 116 acacias on our plant profile database here. Photo below: Acacia amblygona (by the Sheathers) from our profile here. |
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Discount Neutrog offer for members
We are pleased to announce we have entered an arrangement with Neutrog, producers of Bush Tucker and other great products for the garden. Members can receive substantial discounts on all Neutrog products bought through the Neutrog online store.
Bush Tucker is a complete, organic-based boosted fertiliser, specially designed to meet the needs of Australian native plants. It was developed and trialled over a number of years in consultation with native plant expert, Angus Stewart, and soil scientist, Simon Leake.
Members need to register first through their group, as deliveries are made to one address per group four times a year. Members will then receive details from Neutrog on how to access the special discounts for members on the Neutrog online store. Read here how the discount offer works through your group. |
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Australian Flora Foundation, Research Matters The latest issue of the Research Matters newsletter from the Australian Flora Foundation, no. 34 July 2021, is now available. The Australian Flora Foundation is a charity fostering scientific research into the biology and cultivation of the Australian flora. It was established in 1981 and is celebrating the 40th year of operations in 2021. Read more about the latest newsletter here. |
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More reading Check these articles by academics on The Conversation website and more:
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Study Group updates
Explore our wide range of national Study Groups and their newsletter archives and see how to join a group for free here.
Acacia Study Group Newsletter 150, August 2021
Just in time for Wattle Day, there's a bumper issue featuring acacias from all around Australia. The Walcotts from Canberra discuss the three best performing wattles in their garden are Acacia cremifolia, Acacia glaucoptera and Acacia subulata, although their opinion may change next month. One of Study Group Leader Bill Aitchison's favourites is Acacia imbricata, with very attractive foliage and great flowering in late winter and early spring. Bob Lorensene, a member from Victoria and talented wood turner, has turned wood samples from 30 Acacia species into decorative 'mushrooms'. He has donated the collection to the Wattle Day Association to show differences in Acacia wood colour and wood density. Photo below: Suzette Searle. You may know about the rare red-flowering Acacia leprosa, but what about Acacia purpureopetala, the iconic but threatened Acacia with mauve flowers, restricted to a few disjunct populations in far north Queensland? Trevor Blake reminds that although the appeal of Acacia focuses on the flowers, there is a group of species with 'Minni ritchi bark', which peels and curls away from the trunks and branches in spectacular form, often red-orange colour. He mentions nine species found in arid and northern areas of Australia. |
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On the APS NSW website
Our website has our membership benefits, how to join, District Group details, volunteering opportunities and resources. Members get a membership renewal email when due and can also renew online here. The form in Australian Plants is for the journal only. |
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Honeyeater on Hakea francisiana 'Pink Poker' (photo: Heather Miles)
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