Native Plants for NSW -
May 2022
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Flowers in the beautiful Warrumbungles. (Credit: R Cartwright)
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From the President
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Dear {Contact_First_Name},
A month of great outcomes. Costa Georgiadis, Clarence Slockee, Dr Lyndal Thorburn and Professor David Keith have all confirmed they will speak at the Australian flora conference in Kiama. We have a great program lined up with many more speakers confirmed. A group of 45 members had an insightful and very memorable trip out west to view 6 farmers undertaking regenerative farming and conservation. I think Jim and Ricki Nash, new members of APS summarised: 'There is a building concern for conservation and re-generation but all our hosts acknowledged the short-term commercial constraints holding back many property owners.' Key messages:
- You have to be passionate
- It helps to have deep pockets
- You need a long time frame
- You need a degree of confidence that the course you have set and the advice that will help you along the way will see you through
- You need local, state and federal governments and agencies to be onboard with assistance and funding
Thanks to John Aitken for organising such a fabulous trip. See the trip report below. Heather Miles, President
eNewsletter Contents:
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Grevillea at Silky Oaks (Credit: H Miles)
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Quarterly gathering and AGM - Saturday 21 May
Kindly hosted by Parramatta and Hills group.
When and where
10 am-12pm - visit Boongala Native Gardens and Rainforest, Kenthurst, $3 entry
1-4 pm - APS NSW Annual General meeting and Peter Olde, OAM: Grevilleas for small gardens. $5 for members, $10 for guests. Gumnut Community Centre, Cherrybrook.
Please note: 1) 21st May is also Federal Election day. Please don't forget to make your arrangements to vote 2) Please bring your own reusable cups for afternoon tea to reduce the environmental impact.
Further details on the event, including documents for the AGM are available here. |
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Harbour Georges River - Launch of new group name and memorial tree planting
When: 10:30am Wednesday 4th May Where: Sylvan Grove Native Garden 7 Sylvan Grove, Picnic Point All welcome. Come and celebrate Harbour Georges River's new name and be part of a memorial tree planting, commemorating Hugh Stacy, Kyrill Taylor and Graham and Margaret Walters. More event details here |
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Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden Walk & Talks
When: 9:45am Monday 16th May (Wildlife of KWG) 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. More event details, including how to register here
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Fabulous Peas 2022 FJC Rogers biennial seminar
When: 15-16 October 2022 Where: York on Lilydale, Mount Evelyn, Vic
Discover the extraordinary world of Australian pea plants. Including speakers with expertise in identifying, growing and propagating peas. Learn about current research into propagation and growing-on techniques. Plant sales of common and unusual pea species. Book sales. Displays. Raffle and more.
More event details, including how to register here |
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Lambertia formosa (Credit: H Miles) |
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Please save the date....
Blue Mountains spring native plant show
When: 10-11 September 2022 Where: Glenbrook native plant reserve 41 Great Western Highway, Glenbrook
More event details will follow. APS NSW get together When: 12-13 November 2022 Where: Southern Highlands Event details to follow. 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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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
Registrations are now open with early bird registration rates closing 31 May. Tickets are selling fast with some tours and events almost sold out, so don't delay in booking if you're planning to attend. Click here for more information on the conference. We are delighted to announce keynote speakers for the conference. The current line up of speakers is here with many more to be added. |
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Professor David Keith
Launching the conference on Monday 12th September is Professor David Keith, a leading botanist and ecologist. He will set the context for the conference and speak on: 'The past, present and future of Australian native plants across NSW and the Illawarra'.
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Costa Georgiadis
Costa Georgiadis is the host of Gardening Australia, a landscape designer and teacher. With his passion and willingness to speak from the heart, he brings to life how nature will enrich our lives. He will share his views of the future of native plants.
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Dr Lyndal Thorburn
Lyndal took over leadership of the Eremophila Study Group in 2015, a mere 30 years after having joined it! Lyndal trained in ecology, botany and genetics at Sydney Uni.
Her talk at the conference will be titled: 'The Eremophila Study Group - the next 50 years.'
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Clarence Slockee Clarence Slockee is a well known figure from Gardening Australia and also director of his own Landscape Design company, Jiwah, which employs young First Nations people and works to design, create and promote green spaces among urban landscapes. Clarence will take us back thousands of years to the life and times of the First Nations people and how they used native plants sustainably to nurture themselves and the land.
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Have you secured your spot on one of our add-on tours?
We have some fantastic itineraries for both pre and post conference tours and spots are filling fast.
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World Heritage Blue Mountains
Pre conference - 5 days/4 nights.
Experience the grandeur of this magnificent area and its special environments and flora. We will visit the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mt Tomah, and a number of sites within national parks and nearby natural areas, staying two nights in the little town of Wallerawang and two in Katoomba in the heart of the Blue Mountains. |
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Dramatic Warrumbungles and Pilliga Pre and post conference - 6 days/5 nights
An area of scenic beauty and great botanical interest. You will experience the magnificent stone outcrops of the Warrumbungle National Park and the wildflowers nestling in the rocks in this Dark Sky Park. This is the perfect spot for star gazing. Explore the iconic Pilliga Forest, a semi-arid woodland remnant with over 900 plant species and the extinct volcano, Mt Kaputar. |
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Farmers conserving native plants |
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Andrew Knop at Mottlecah (Credit: B & C Galland) |
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About 45 APS members joined the Central West 4-day trip in April 2022 which included visiting 6 private properties around the Orange, Dubbo, and the Narromine area. A visit was also made to the Burrendong Botanic Garden and Arboretum.
The properties visited are all focusing on conserving native plants. Some of them are planting native plants alongside their farming endeavours and pioneering sustainable farming practices. Some of the properties are restoring and revegetating previously cleared lands.
Bob and Celia Galland wrote a detailed trip report, now available on the website. |
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They say when it rains, it pours. That's certainly how most of NSW have experienced the last few months. It's been a trying time for so many people and our thoughts go out to anyone impacted by the floods.
How's your garden faring? Members are telling us that some plants haven't coped well and some are loving the rain- unfortunately, often so are the weeds and the pests!
Do you have any casualties that need replacing, or inspiration to update your garden design? Take a look at this article by Heather Miles on native plants for suburban gardens.
This month we've also got tips on planting under gum trees and shady gardens from Jeff Howes. |
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Joan Zande's garden (Credit: H Miles) |
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Backhousia citriodora (Credit: J Howes) |
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Fitzroy Falls (Credit: H Miles) |
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Westleigh playing fields Recently, North Shore Group made a submission to council on the development of the sports field at Westleigh Park. The site has high quality threatened communities (Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest and Duffys Forest) and rare plants (Melaleuca deanei, Tetratheca glandulosa, Epacris purpurascens and Darwinia biflora). There is also an area of critically endangered Bluegum High Forest (Dog Pound Creek) adjacent to the site. |
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The Great Southern Forest update The Great Southern Forest proposal is a widely researched, solutions-based initiative for the carbon and biodiversity dense SE NSW native forests.It offers nature-based solutions to critical national and global problems and with great benefit for climate stabilisation, environmental and economic success, increased resilience and biodiversity, regional employment, First Nation participation and social coherence. This new model of forest management is relevant and transferable nationally. |
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Friends of Grasslands 2022 Grassy Ecosystem Grants
Friends of Grasslands (FoG) is offering a small number of grants of up to $1500 each in 2022 to support projects that promote investment in the understanding, conservation and management of native grassy ecosystems. Any individual or organisation can apply. Applications close Friday 13th May 2022. Further information and the application form is available through Friends of Grasslands website here. |
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Great news! There has been plenty of interest from APS members in the Illawarra region in re-forming an Illawarra district group.
Currently the group is going to be running as a sub-group of the Sutherland group, which will enable them to get going quickly but the group may work towards running stand alone in the future.
Michael Swire planned and ran an inaugural walk for the group. Trip report in the full story.
Here is a short video, highlighting the beautiful and diverse ecosystems of the Illawarra. We will visit a number of these locations at the upcoming Australian flora conference. |
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Illawarra group (credit: H Fletcher) |
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Conserving our 'Woody Elders' |
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This E. racemosa was heavily pruned, about 3 years ago by removing the canopy, leaving the stag, and left as shown with enough bulk to retain hollows (Credit: J Collins) |
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On the 16th March 2022 Dr Beth Mott, Threatened Species Officer, NSW Department of Planning and Environment (Wollongong) gave a talk to Sutherland Group. Beth presented her research and passion for studying tree hollows and the fauna that use them. Beth has worked on Powerful Owl projects as well as other threatened species studies.
Beth began by emphasising the importance of preserving plant life, especially old trees, which have many physical, social and landscape values. They provide shade, carbon sequestration, habitat values and noise reduction. They all provide mental health benefits and happiness for us humans. Read the full story to learn how tree hollows form and why they are extremely important to a number of threatened species. |
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Did you know that APS NSW members have their own facebook group? This is a place you can share photos or articles with other APS NSW members and stay up to date with APS NSW news. We invite all APS NSW members to join. |
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