Native Plants for NSW -
May 2023
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Grevillea 'Billy Bonkers' (T Lea) |
From the President
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Dear {Contact_First_Name},
Another bumper issue full of stories and events.
I hope to see you all at the AGM and Gathering hosted by the Central Coast at Kariong on Saturday 20 March. Morning activities are a bushwalk in Brisbane Water National Park or a visit to Wholesale Native Nursery of Olga Blacha and Jonathan Steed, followed by the brief AGM and a talk by Olga on Achieving a New Civic Australian Style Garden.
Good news. Brendan Tuckerman is onboard to administer our website, and support district groups with their web pages. A big win for the Society. And finally, some special photos by Michelle de Mol, one of our Blue Mountains members - showcasing the insects that thrive on our flora. See story here.
Heather Miles, President
eNewsletter Contents:
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Northern Beaches - Plants hidden in the clouds
When: 7:15pm Thursday 4th May
Where: Corkery Building, Stony Range, 810 Pittwater Rd, Dee Why
Harry Loots will speak about the alpine plants of the Central Highlands of Tasmania. He took many photos on his most recent walks along the Overland Track between Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair in 2022 & 2023. More details here
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North Shore - Walks and Talks When: 9:45am, Monday 15th May Where: Ku-ring-gai wildflower garden
A 'walk only' with the theme: Insects and Inspiration led by Margo. More details here |
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Open day at Illawarra Grevillea Park
When: 6,7,13,14 May 10am - 4pm
Where: Illawarra Grevillea Park, Bulli
Come and see the wonderful display at the Grevillea park. Banksias, Grevilleas and many other natives are in full bloom. There will be plant sales, book sales and volunteers on hand to help. A full list of plants for sale will be posted the week before the open days.
More details here
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Banksia 'Birthday Candles' (T Lea) |
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APS NSW Quarterly Gathering and AGM - Hosted by Central Coast group
When: 9:30am-3:30pm, 20th May 2023
Morning: Various locations at Central Coast
Afternoon: Phillip House, 21 Old Mt. Penang Rd, Kariong NSW 2250 ($5 members, $10 non-members)
This gathering will include our AGM between 1-1:30pm
- 9:30-11:30 choice of a guided bush walk or visit to a native plant nursery (with sales available)
- 12:00-1:00 Lunch and plant sale. BYO lunch or purchase locally.
- 1:00-3:30 AGM, then a talk by Olga Blacha titled: 'Achieving a New Civic Australian Style Garden' followed by afternoon tea.
Annual General Meeting
The agenda including the minutes from the previous AGM is available here.
Our 2022 Annual Report is here.
To send your apologies, please email: secretary@austplants.com.au
Please email any financial questions by Wednesday 17 May and we will provide responses at the AGM.
Nominations for board positions
We welcome new board members, and non board members, to assist with running the Society. If you'd like to join the board or wish to nominate someone, please contact President Heather Miles to discuss what's involved. The form here needs to be completed and returned by Friday 5 May.
Proxy voting
If you cannot attend the AGM, and would like to nominate a proxy for your vote, please complete the Proxy form here and return by Friday 5 May to secretary@austplants.com.au
More details on the event 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 get togethers
16 September - gathering at the Corrimal Community Centre, hosted by the Illawarra Group.
17-19 November Get together at Goulburn hosted by the Southern Tablelands Group. Some details here
More details will be available closer to the dates |
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Native Plants Queensland State Conference
When: 14-18th September 2023
Where: Cairns
Normally, Native State Conferences occur biennially in the alternative year to National Conferences, however due to Covid they have not held a State Conference for some years. Places are limited so please submit your application asap to avoid disappointment.
More details 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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Sutherland group's 60th Anniversary |
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Sutherland group 2022 Christmas celebration at Joseph Banks native plant reserve
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2023 marks the 60th anniversary of Sutherland Group of the Australian Plants Society NSW. President Leonie Hogue was thinking back to when she first joined the Society in the late 1980’s. It was called the Society for Growing Australian Plants then. It was one of the few places where you could get information about Australian plants or meet people who had knowledge of the local flora. She shares some other memories with us this month. |
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A section of Bev Fox’s nature strip garden (C Larkin) |
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A naturestrip is a legally interesting piece of land. It is public land owned by the council with the ‘responsibility’ for its maintenance resting with the home-owner. Councils’ attitudes to home-owner responsibility to maintaining the naturestrip varies from a softly, softly approach, which might talk about ‘expectation’ and doing the right thing by the community, to one of threats, such as the Council will organise mowing the naturestrip and bill you for it. Chris Larkin wrote this fantastic piece about verge gardening, first appearing in the APS Victoria journal 'Growing Australian' in March 2023. |
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On the 2nd Feb 2023, Stuart Read gave a talk to the Northern Beaches group titled: The history of garden design using Australian native plants (1788 – now)' He spoke about the types of gardens from 1790 to the present day with projections of maps, photographs, paintings and diagrams. The reasons for the various styles covered the fashion at the time, function and the built elements. The earliest illustrations of gardens were those of the first governors, John Hunter and Lachlan Macquarie. These showed the selection of native trees and tree-like shrubs, planted in formal gardens, full of ornamental exotics. |
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney c.1900 (courtesy State Library of New South Wales) |
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This month, Andrew Knop shares his thoughts, inspired by a journal description and lithograph from Mr Oxley’s journal account of his 1817 Lachlan River expedition. How should we think about the impact of our natural resource management legacy? He says Indigenous cultures, who have sustainably interacted with the world’s water, soils and biodiversity for millennia, possess knowledge and skills we must quickly recognise, learn and internalise.
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Lithograph from John Oxley's journal
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Grey-headed fly fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) (image: Matthew Mo, DPE, Living with Grey-headed Flying Foxes)
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As we know, Flying Foxes can cause some headaches for us poor, easily-upset humans. They provide an excellent ecological service through pollination and seed dispersal and are a vital keystone species. However, they tend to set-up shop in highly urbanised areas which can cause problems for residents and school children, mainly due to noise and odour produced by colonies.
There are four flying-fox species in Australia: The Little Red, The Black, The Spectacled and The Grey- Headed. Three of these are listed as threatened in the wild (The Black is not currently listed). At the Sutherland group meeting in March, Matthew Mo and Libby Timmis from NSW Dept of Planning and Education gave a talk on these fascinating animals, a crash course in their conservation and management. |
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A different sort of reason for botanical name changes |
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Banksia collina and bee (T Lea) |
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This article is to inform members of a ‘process-in-motion’ that Dan Clarke has heard and read about sporadically lately. It regards proposed changes to botanical names, where the naming may be now thought socially inappropriate or even offensive in today’s social, cultural and political landscapes.
He recently read a blog post revolving around botanic names and proposed changes. However, one thing we may not be aware of is proposed changes to names, based on their inappropriateness or offensive nature in today’s modern world. By this, we are referring to generic and/or species names that have been named after certain individuals who have a perceived chequered or ill-reputed history. The issue also surrounds species names that refer to or are linked to offensive terms and ideas. He shares with us some key insights and interesting ideas. |
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After APS NSW hosted the national conference in Kiama in September 2022, APS NSW members now form the secretariat for the Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) until the next conference hosted by APS Victoria in September 2024.
Wondering what the relationship is between ANPSA and APS NSW? And want to understand more about what ANPSA does? Rhonda Daniels shared this helpful update for us. |
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Final words...
We have appointed a new webmaster to help APS NSW with our website and social media. Brendan Tuckerman joins us with a wealth of experience to help APS NSW maintain and grow our online presence. Read more about Brendan here. |
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