Native Plants for NSW -
August 2022
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Acacia longifolia (L Godden) |
From the President
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Dear {Contact_First_Name},
The conference is now getting close - just 5 weeks away. We are pleased with the current registrations. We are also upping the ante of Covid safety, to ensure we keep people safe. We hope to see a lot of you there for an exciting 6-7 days of insight, learning and friendships.
I'm sure you will have seen the latest State of the Environment report - quite sobering. I'd be interested to know what you think we should be doing as a society to halt or slow the threat to our native plants - over 670 threatened plants in NSW right now. Please write and tell me what you think: hmiles1672@gmail.com Heather Miles, President
eNewsletter Contents:
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Australian flora conference 2022
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The Australian Flora Conference 2022 - Past, Present & Future
10 to 16 September 2022, The Pavilion Kiama, NSW |
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Inspiring speakers bringing to life the theme of Australian flora - past present future. See here for program and speaker information
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Illawarra escarpment (H Miles) |
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Speaker spotlight: Lyn Clarke Berry Public School Nursery |
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Presentation topic: Growing local indigenous rainforest plants for the community - the Berry Public School nursery story |
Lyn is a retired secondary school teacher – Visual Arts and Design and Technology. She volunteered at the Berry Public School nursery from 2010 to learn more about propagating local rainforest plants and with the co-ordinators, developed opportunities for children to gain practical skills of plant propagation.
She became co-ordinator for the volunteers about 9 years ago with a view to trial and record successful germination and propagation techniques for seeds that do not conform to conventional propagation methods.
The new primary Science Curriculum coincided with the opening of Natural Studies and Plant Propagation Centre in 2018, adding scope for furthering educational opportunities for children and workshops for interested adults. |
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Speaker spotlight: Bruce Maynard Agricultural innovator
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Presentation topic: Granaries in the Grasslands - producing food with Australian Plants
Bruce Maynard will take you for a walk on the wild side of Australian Grasslands where innovative farming and grazing techniques are increasing the diversity of native plant species while providing a more nutrient-rich end product and improved support for local communities.
Local provenance at its best- with Aussie plants at its heart!
Join Bruce as he takes you to his farm and the Outback for a walk in the wild!
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Not able to attend the whole week? No worries! You can either book for the whole conference or individual days.
The conference program has speakers scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday and Friday are field trips to the surrounding areas and Sydney. The field trips are included for those who book a ticket for the whole week.
To join us, choose to book a ticket for the whole week, or select individual days of speakers, Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. |
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Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden Walk & Talks
When: 9:45am Mondays Where: Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Gardens, 420 Mona Vale Rd, St Ives
Be guided by members of the North Shore Group of the Australian Plants Society on a walk in the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden to see and learn about our wonderful native plants as they come into flower. Program for August includes:
- August 1 Acacia (Family Fabaceae, Subfamily Mimosoideae)
- August 8 Boronia and other members of Family Rutaceae
- August 15 Heath plants (Family Ericaceae)
- August 22 Pea shrubs and vines (Family Fabaceae, Subfamily Faboideae)
- August 29 Sedges, rushes & restiads
More event details, including how to register here |
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Central Coast meetingBehind the lens - Strickland
When: 2pm,13 August 2022. Where: Phillip House 21 Old Mt Penang Road Kariong
At the Central Coast district group meeting, photographer Shayne Leslie will be presenting Strickland, an online photographic exhibition. It is easy to see why Strickland State Forest captured Shayne’s imagination. The environment is a living exhibition of exceptionally diverse forest habitats from wildflowers and dry heath woodland, tall eucalypts through to lush rainforest. Shayne will share the story behind the pictures. On the way, you will learn a little about photography. More event details here |
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Harbour Georges RiverSylvan Grove visit and guided tour
When: 10am, 4 September 2022. Where: Sylvan Grove Native Garden, 7 Sylvan Grove, Picnic Point Visit when the orchids are flowering, with a guided tour by Jim Mackay, Head Gardener. Bring your morning tea, or coffee and meals are available nearby. Limited parking at Sylvan Grove. All welcome. More event details here |
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A bushpea and acacia understorey as described by explorer Oxley and King's botanist Allan Cunningham (A Knop) |
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Narromine Landcare/BCT Field day
When: 10:30am, 17 September 2022
Where: Merebone & Warrina, High Park Rd, Narromine.
Field day themes include:
- Revegetating woodlands;
- Building landscape resilience;
- Habitat stepping stones;
- Bringing the birds back;
- Getting climate ready;
- Low disturbance weed control techniques & tools.
Morning tea & hot lunch supplied.
RSVP to Craig Bennet (Lower Macquarie Landcare) on 0457 092 963 or cbennet@narromine.nsw.gov.au
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Plant Sales
North Shore Spring Plant Sale When: 9am-4pm, 4 September 2022
Where: Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, 420 Mona Vale Road, St Ives
There will be bargain plants, as well as beautiful, hand-made cards. Please bring your credit card (preferably), own packing boxes and used pots and tubes (for our future use). APS NSW Plant Sale
When: 10am-5pm, 11 September 2022
Where: Kiama Pavillion, 2 Bong Bong St, Kiama NSW 2533
We look forward to welcoming native plant sellers from the region. All welcome.
More details here
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APS NSW get together in the Southern Highlands When: 12-13 November 2022 Where: Exeter Village Hall, 10 Exeter Rd, Exeter NSW 2579 The Southern Highlands Group of APS NSW is hosting this year's weekend get-together.
They have organised a variety of exciting activities for the weekend, including talks from experts, garden visits and a plant sale on the Sunday. This will be a popular event and registration is essential.
More event details including program, costs and how to register: here |
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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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Identifying native plants - tips and resources |
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Hakea 'Burrendong Beauty' (H Miles) |
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At the June 2022 meeting of the Sutherland District Group, Rhonda Daniels gave a talk titled 'Identifying native plants - tips and resources.' Rhonda's talk started with a question- Why bother with names?
Botanical names may seem foreign at first encounter, but they are useful. We have developed a naming system for plants to help us communicate with others, share and build knowledge, and understand relationships and linkages. But remember, the plants don’t know they have to fit into our system.
So, how do we get started identifying plants?
There are now many resources available to help identify native plants. People learn in different ways, so find a resource or approach that works for you. It also depends on your starting point of knowledge, such as the botanical hierarchy (families, genera and species) and the botanical features of plants. To learn more, read the full report. |
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Chris Larkin, from APS Victoria recently wrote a beautiful piece about how she considers native garden design from inside her home. Chris writes: 'I am fortunate to have a lot of large windows drawing my attention to what is going on outside, from the sky to the garden that surrounds the house.
Hot days, cold days, windy, wet, illness and housework days sometimes we need or chose to stay inside our homes, but we can remain connected to what is going on outside as we look out our windows.' Read on to find out more on Chris' inside out design approach. |
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View through a window (C Dawson) |
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Gardens of Stone (S Fredrickson) |
Gardens of Stone submissions
Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area (SCA) Declaration
Members of the Gardens of Stone Alliance which includes Wilderness Australia (formerly Colong Foundation for Wilderness), Blue Mountains Conservation Society and Lithgow Environment Group, have worked and lobbied for many years to have the Newnes Plateau Area protected as a SCA.
This was achieved in November 2021 with the declaration of the establishment of the 28,322 hectare Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area.
A draft Master Plan and Plan of Management for the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area was recently released and public comment was sought.
These plans include road access improvements, camping area, multi-day walk, mountain bike tracks and an adventure hub. It is hoped that nearby Lithgow, currently largely a coal mining town, can become a focus for tourism with the newly declared adjacent SCA which will attract visitors and boost Lithgow’s economy.
APS NSW is keen to ensure that the developing is done in the most sensitive manner that will protect the Flora. Sue Fredrickson of North Shore group generously gave her time to research the topic and develop the submissions commenting on the Plans, on behalf of APS NSW. |
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Without urgent action, these street trees are unlikely to survive climate change
Warmer global temperatures require more urban cooling. Tree canopies are very effective here but some common street tree species may not handle climate change well. Integrated planning is needed to choose suitable species and incorporate “blue” infrastructure via water-sensitive urban design to ensure plantings have adequate water to survive in increasingly harsh climates.
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Saving Gondwanan rainforests Plant scientists are working to rehabilitate and restore remnant communities of the Gondwanan rainforest of northern NSW. By developing suitable propagation methods and working with Indigenous communities and Landcare, they hope to establish plant communities with the resilience to survive any future threats. |
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Actinotus forsythii (L Godden) |
Pink Flannel Flowers - Menai Wildflower Group We are pleased to announce that Menai Wildflower Group has been successful in their application for a grant from the bequest fund. This project is on germination and genetics of the Pink Flannel Flower and conducted by the Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales (UNSW). The aim is to investigate a new rapid method for germinating the charismatic Actinotus forsythii (Pink Flannel Flower) using gibberellic acid, and analyse the genetics of A. forsythii and compare it to differences in germination across multiple populations. Currently A. forsythii requires prolonged treatment to produce germination. Also, because the species is a true fire ephemeral, its ecology is relatively unknown, despite the fact that it has captured the public’s imagination after the 2019-20 fires. The Pink Flannel Flower is an ever popular plant, with many of us having grown (or attempted!) to grow seedlings that Menai Wildflower Group propagated. We look forward to hearing more about the new propagation method and germination rates. |
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Aberdeen garden packed with goodies |
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Grevillea 'Honey Barbara' (H Miles) |
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Seven members from the Hunter Valley group braved the sunny weather – yes, it didn’t rain – to visit the stunning garden of Margaret Mitchell in Aberdeen, west of Muswellbrook in mid June.
Margaret is a long time ‘native’ enthusiast. For the 40 or so years she has gardened, she’s pretty much been native all the way. An extraordinary feat given the challenges of sourcing plants as well as building knowledge without much support.
They had a wonderful time viewing her beautiful garden, sharing titbits of advice and enjoying the cake and sunshine.
The back garden is a long garden full of trees, shrubs and ground covers. It is full of sculpture, ornaments and bird baths, ideal for habitat. Margaret has put in an extraordinary diversity of plants, some that we’d never seen before in cultivation. |
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Final words.. Have you voted for your favourite native tree? The ABC is running a poll to determine Australia's most loved tree. To celebrate national science week, a panel of experts have created a shortlist of 33 trees and the ABC would love you to participate in crowning Australia's favourite. The first round of voting finishes on 11th August so vote now! |
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