Native Plants for NSW -
August 2023
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From the President
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Dear {Contact_First_Name},
Being a keen gardener but an extremely amateur botanist I am often taken aback by the range and variety of Australian plants and also by the collective expertise of our membership. An important challenge for the future is to harness this plant knowledge and to have it incorporated into decision making by home gardeners, landscapers and regulatory authorities making decisions on environmental issues.
As an example of knowledge dispersal I refer to the article in this issue on Eremophilas, often thought of as an inconspicuous plant of arid areas. There are in fact hundreds of species, all endemic to Australia, with potentially wide applications in home and public gardens.
Last month I mentioned an incorrect date for the next APS gathering The correct date is Saturday 16 September at Corrimal, hosted by the Illawarra District Group. Registration details are in this issue.
John Desmond, President
eNewsletter Contents:
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Coffs Harbour - Meeting & talk: Australian figsWhen: 8th August 7-10pm
Where: The Display Room, North Coast Regional Botanic Garden, Cnr Coffs & Hardacre St, Coffs Harbour
Phil O’Shea will speak on the topic.
Please bring a plate and plant samples to boast about or seek assistance with. Members attending are also encouraged to speak about their experiences.
More details here
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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. - Aug 7: Heath plants (Family Ericaceae).
- Aug 14: Boronia and other members of Family Rutaceae
- Aug 21: Acacia (Family Fabaceae, Subfamily Mimosoideae)
- Aug 28: Sedges, rushes & restiads.
More details here |
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North Shore - Meeting & talk: Australian solitary bees and how to support them
When: 11th August 2023, 7pm (plant sales 7:15, talk starts 7:30, refreshments after) Where: Beatrice Taylor Hall, behind Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre, 25 Edgeworth David Avenue, Hornsby
Dr. Alexander J. Austin will cover the diversity of our solitary bee species, what you can expect to see in your local area, and how to support them within the community.
Dr. Austin gained his PhD in the nutritional ecology of wild bees in 2019, and since then has been running Ku-ring-gai’s Native Stingless Bee program as well as other initiatives related to the support of Australia’s native bee species.
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 annual get together
When: 17-19 November 2023 Where: Goulburn, home of the big merino Cost: $35 APS members, $40 non members for the event. Includes morning tea, Saturday lunch, gifts for guest speakers and incidentals. Saturday dinner $58/person for a 2 course meal.
On Saturday, we start at East Goulburn Public School with morning tea and a talk on Eremophila by Dr Lyndal Thorburn, leader of the Eremophila study group. The afternoon activity highlight is a tour of the Goulburn Wetlands. Saturday dinner we have a talk from guest speaker Dr. Brian Faulkner, Biodiversity Assessment Officer, Goulburn-Mulwaree Council - Threatened species of the Goulburn-Mulwaree district. Sunday activities include a bush walk or garden visits. The annual weekend away is always an enjoyable and social event, a great opportunity to catch up with friends from other district groups.
More details and the registration link here. Please register asap, note that there are limited numbers for Saturday dinner. |
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Goulburn Wetlands (supplied) |
Sutherland Group Open Gardens
When: 2-3 September 2023
Where: On Saturday, the four open gardens are centred around Jannali, and on Sunday the open gardens are in Engadine.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary, members have kindly agreed to open their gardens to the public to show the beauty and diversity of Australian natives on their diverse sites. Gardens range from level access to steeper sites, from sun to shade, and from well-established to more recent. Each garden has something different to show about gardening with natives.
Make a day out in Sutherland Shire and also visit Joseph Banks Native Plants Reserve at Kareela and Sydney Wildflower Nursery at Heathcote.
Entry to each garden is by gold coin donation.
Refreshments and plant sales at selected gardens.
More information here |
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APS September gathering - hosted by the Illawarra Group
When: 16 September 2023. 10am for tours, 1pm for the meeting. Where: Morning tours @ various locations (limited numbers). Afternoon meeting @ Corrimal Community Hall, 15 Short St, Corrimal There is now a full program available, including speakers:
- Leon Fuller & Emma Rooksby Indigenous Plants for Streets
- Dr Ann Young Dharawal National Park - mining, past impacts & current management plan
Please register ASAP. Details here.
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Darwinia grandiflora (M Swire) |
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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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Mt Bushwalker Track - a must do hike |
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Mt Bushwalker Track (H Miles) |
In early June, Heather Miles visited Mount Bushwalker track in Morton National Park, 30 minutes north of Milton. While not much was flowering, apart from the banksias – which were prolific, it was a beautiful and relaxing walk with stunning views and huge floral diversity.
The track has been recently reconstructed to protect the precious flora, with raised walkways, sandy paths and rock platforms to traverse the bush. The track is always open but may close at times due to poor weather or fire danger. See National Parks website for more information. |
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Eremophila racemosa flowers (B Walcott) |
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Taking a chance on Eremophila.
Eremophilas can be marvellous plants in the garden, but their reliability in a variety of soils and climates is still being established by their many devoted growers.
As so many eremophilas have been only recently collected from the wild and introduced into our gardens they are still a work in progress as garden plants.
They have so many good points for garden design; many are small, compact plants which bloom over long periods and attract both birds and insects.
They come with a variety of flower and foliage colour and form. Most of them react enthusiastically to pruning, even harsh pruning. They can be clipped into hedges or larger plants used as screens and windbreaks. Many eremophilas make successful groundcovers. This month we revisit a story written by Ros and Ben Walcott, on these useful and beautiful plants.
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Precision agricultural seeder used with native species in Western Australia. (Simone Pedrini, Author provided)
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Aerial seeding is not new. It has been used in forestry and agriculture over the last 100 years but clearly the technology has changed! In the 21st century, drones have become indispensable in those two sectors because of their low cost and high versatility. There has been a flow-on effect into ecological restoration work, with many companies trying to prove the worth of drones for aerial seeding in revegetation projects. However, it’s early days and there’s little evidence yet on the success rates of drone seeding, although some evidence may soon start to trickle in. |
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Anetholea anisata (M O'Connor)
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At the Sutherland Group meeting in May, Samantha Newton gave an interesting talk on a bush tucker garden she created on Macquarie University campus.
Sam is affiliated with Macquarie University which comprises an arboretum as part of its campus and the bush tucker garden was added as a teaching resource and example of how native plants can be used for culinary and medicinal purposes.
Sam was basically given free-range to convert an old unwanted car park in a very shady area (beneath a 4- storey building to the north), into a garden. Dan Clarke shares a write up from her talk, originally published in the Sutherland Group newsletter. |
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What do Acacia ‘Winter Gold’, Acacia ‘Winter Flame’, the Correa ‘Winter Bells’ collection, Eremophila ‘Winter Gold’, Grevillea ‘Winter Delight’, Philotheca ‘Winter Rouge’ and Syzygium ‘Winter Lights’ have in common? Yes, they are all named for a winter feature – either their flowers or foliage.
Some plants do seem to flower all year round, like some of the larger grevilleas and groundcovers like scaevolas and brachyscomes. But with fewer plants flowering in the cooler months and gardeners looking for a burst of colour, it should be a more popular marketing name for cultivars. |
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Correa ‘Catie Bec’ (Heather Miles)
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Final words...
Did you know that APS NSW members have access to other state's newsletters too? They are available via the members only section of our website here. (Note: you will need to log in to view them) |
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