DIARY OF EVENTS: SOCIETY FOR GROWING AUSTRALIAN …apswarrnambool.org.au/pdf/Newsletter 402 Mar 2015.pdf · called B. spinulosa “Carnarvon Gold” (the Queensland Carnarvon!)

Society for Growing Australian Plants - Warrnambool & District Group March 2015 Newsletter

SOCIETY FOR GROWING AUSTRALIAN PLANTS Warrnambool & District Group Inc. Newsletter

March 2015 No 402

Incorporation No: AOO1312OX ABN: 51672752196 Web: www.warrnambool.org/sgap

DIARY OF EVENTS: 27th March - Speaker, John

Sherwood talking on his trip to Lake

Mungo

31st March - Committee Meeting—

to be held at Berrys

24th April - Neil Marriott speaking

about the new WAMA Native

Botanical Garden planned for Halls

Gap.

28th April - Committee Meeting—to

be held at Artis’

22nd May - AGM speaker TBC

26th May - Committee Meeting TBC

19th August 7.30pm at HIRL at

Hamilton. Hamilton Group has in-

vited us to attend their meeting

where Cathy Powers will be

speaking on diversity and distri-

bution of native orchids.

Hi members, Something to think about! Should Warrnambool & District SGAP have its own Facebook page? I can hear you all groaning at the suggestion! But maybe we are all making a huge mistake! Facebook is actually a great way to make contact with people, especially the younger generation, the very ones we want to join our group! I am a member of an Australian Native Plants Enthusiasts Facebook group! This is a closed group (by invitation only but any member can recommend someone) and I find it a great way to make contact with people from all over Australia who are showing an interest in native plants. Members are roughly categorised into two groups, those like me who are APS members and those who join to find out about native plants from people like us. I believe this is a great opportunity to get new members for APS but are we letting this opportunity slip away! Posts can be made by any member and this basically consists of a photo of a native plant with a comment. It can be a request for help to ID a plant like I did last week. I put up a photo of a banksia from Swan Reserve which I had assumed to be B. spinulosa but as Paul Kennedy pointed out to me had a very different leaf structure. It didn’t take very long for Cas Liber (Banksia Study Group Leader) to respond that it was indeed a B. spinulosa but a special form called B. spinulosa “Carnarvon Gold” (the Queensland Carnarvon!) . He pointed out that this plant could in fact end up as a new species given its differences to normal B. spinulosa. This proved to be a great source of information and it went to all 350 group members and if “shared” in an open group would be spread much further! Of course Facebook can only work if we had a number of members (at least 10) registered so that information we put up could be distributed widely, if only one member is registered, it goes nowhere! We could promote our meetings and speak-ers etc. and put up photos of interesting plants, anything that would create interest to show that we do exist, something that we have struggled to do. It is easier than putting on a floral display and can be repeated as often as we like, and it is FREE! APS Vic already have a Facebook site but it has limited use due no doubt to few of our members using it. How many mem-bers of our group are Facebook members? Please let me know or if you are interested, I can show you how it works. Don’t forget to bring along specimens to our meetings for our display table, this shows people what we can grow here in Warrnambool and helps us promote our native plants through our newsletter. Don’t forget to come to the RSL at 6.00pm for dinner. Hope to see you on Friday 27th. Cheers, Kevin

Next Meeting: Friday 27th March from 8.00pm

Speaker, John Sherwood speaking on his trip to Lake Mungo, Don’t forget to come to the RSL for Dinner at 6.00pm

Correa reflexa ‘Grannys Grave’

The Warrnambool & District SGAP holds meetings on the 4th Friday of each month at the Mozart Hall Warrnambool at 8pm.

‘Plants of the Great South West’,

book covering the

plants of South West

Victoria available from

Kevin Sparrow at

[email protected]

or Ph: 55626217

$20 each

2 Society for Growing Australian Plants - Warrnambool & District Group March 2015 Newsletter

Kevin Sparrow’s Banksia prionotes (right)

is 25 years old and over 20 foot tall. It

started to flower in February and by the

time it has finished it will have had over

100 flowers. It bears cylindrical, orange

flower spikes up to 18 cm long and the un-

opened flowers are greyish, giving the ap-

pearance of an acorn. This is Kevin’s

favourite Banksia. Callistemon ‘Pink

Champagne’ is just starting to flower,

Chorizema varia has been grown from a

cutting and is a rare plant which has grown

brilliantly in Kevin’s front garden. Temple-

tonia retusa has grown into a tall shrub.

Kevin displayed many other plants as well

including Goodenia ovata in the prostrate

form, Billardiera ringens, Eremophila

glabra, Eremophila maculata, Banksia

burdettii and Correa ‘Green Dream’

Mike Halls brought along three

Grevilleas. G. ‘Ned Kelly’ which is

doing well, G. ‘Robyn Gordon’ is

25 years old and needs pruning but

has been watered this summer and

is flowering very well and G. ‘Billy

Bonkers’ has started to flower and

will continue for a long time.

Templetonia retusa Cocky’s Tongue

(left) is starting to flower and is well

adapted to Warrnambool soil. This

plant is a rounded, spreading shrub

growing to 2m high by 3m wide,

has large, red or orange pea-flowers,

sometimes yellow, is resistant to

salt spray and likes good drainage

and full sun to half shade.

Banksia praemorsa bears large, yellow

flower cones and always seems to

have a flower on it in June Preece’s

garden. Ricinocarpos glaucus

Wedding Bush (right) was covered in

flowers in December and is still flow-

ering, June is going to give it a good

prune. Pandorea jasminoides

‘Charisma’ has variegated leaves, is

not as vigorous as Pandorea jasmi-

noides and grows in Queensland and

NSW. Correa redex is a cross be-

tween reflexa and decumbens and is a

treasured gift from the Hamilton group

and Correa ‘Marion’s Marvel’ (below)

is a cross between backhouseana and

reflexa that can reach 2m high by 3m wide in a well-drained, shady site. It bears

pink, bell-shaped flowers with lime green on the tips. Grevillea pectinata has pale

pink flowers, fern like leaves and is a spreading plant.

Marilyn Berry showed Grevillea

‘Caloundra Gem’ which has a short

flowering period but really gorgeous

flowers, Crowea exalata flowers for a

long time with the colour varying from

deep pink buds to pale pink flowers

that fade as they age. It has star shaped

flowers and can be grown from cutting

or seed, likes well drained, mulched

soil and is good used as a cut flower.

Ricinocarpos pinifolius Wedding Bush

is long flowering with abundant white

flowers, likes well-drained, mulched

soil and is hardier than most other

Ricinocarpos once established.

February Display Table—by Kerry Artis


Some of the achievements of the past few

years are:

Removal of the old Cypress Arch to

reinstate intended views of the palm avenue

despite a concerted public media campaign

to save it.

Mulching of existing specimen trees

and shrubs to conserve moisture.

Collection of Lone Pine seed cones

so trees could be propagated and distrib-

uted throughout the community. The exist-

ing Lone Pine is in poor health and nearing

the end of its life. In anticipation of this, 2

young trees have been planted so we can

have a Gallipoli Pine in the future.

Establishment and maintenance of a Facebook page to help create

interest in the gardens. Items of interest and news are regularly uploaded onto

the site which now has a strong following.

Developed a close association with

South West TAFE in which apprentice’s

gain much needed practical experience

within WBG.

Planting out, mulching and tree

guarding of significant pines within the

“Pinetum”, a section at the western end of

the gardens .

Cleared one of the islands in the lake

to remove woody weeds and replant with

suitable specimens.

Establishment of a waterwise garden

complete with interpretive signage to

encourage the public to conserve water

within their own gardens.

Report on Last Meeting—John Sheely Curator, Warrnambool Botanic Gardens by Kevin Sparrow

At our last meeting, John Sheely, of Warrnambool Botanic Gardens gave us

a great presentation on his achievements over the past 8 years since he took

on the position of curator in 2007. One of John’s changes to the gardens

was to do away with the old signs that told people what they could not do

there with signs that welcomed people to the gardens and encouraged them

to enjoy what the gardens have to offer. They have also installed great new

perimeter signs featuring a stylised tree and these present a modern look to

the gardens. John and his dedicated staff have also cleared the lower limbs

from the cypress trees on the western boundary which provides a really

inviting and welcoming view to people travelling past and this is reflected

in the numbers of

people now using the

gardens. These are just

a few of the changes

that John has initiated

since he came to

Warrnambool.

The Botanic Gardens in

Warrnambool

commenced in the 1850's with a Crown Grant of ten acres near the mouth

of the Hopkins River. The poor soil coupled with the notorious south-

westerly winds forced its abandonment after some years. Charles Scoborio

was the first curator and Scoborio Reserve is a reminder of this early but

unsuccessful struggle to create a botanic garden in the city. In 1866, the

present site was selected and at the time was described as a “Howling wil-

derness heavily timbered with a dense undergrowth of scrub, ferns and tus-

socky grass. Quite a difference to the spectacular gardens we have today!

In 1877, Council commissioned William R Guilfoyle to design an appropri-

ate layout for the gardens. Guilfoyle had succeeded Baron von Mueller as

the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne in 1873. Today, the

gardens are still referred to as “Guilfoyle Gardens” and this is reflected in

the way maintenance and improvements are carried out.


President: Bob Artis, Brown St, Allansford. 0417 321225 Vice President: John Sherwood. 26 McConnell St, Warrnambool

Secretary: Marilyn Berry, Tooram Road, Allansford. 3277. Phone: 55651562 Email: [email protected]

Treasurer: Mike Halls, 127 Rooneys Rd, Warrnambool 3280 Phone: 55626519 Email: [email protected]

Newsletter Editor: Kevin Sparrow 35 Swan Street, Warrnambool. Phone: 55626217 Email: [email protected]

Publicity Officer and Librarian: Dorothy Mattner. Public Officer: John Sherwood. Phone: 55628064

APS Reps: vacant , History Book Coordinator: Joyce Sparrow. Other Committee Members: Kerry Artis

Please submit your articles for the newsletter by the end of the second week of the month

Warrnambool & District SGAP is a District Group of the Australian Plants Society (Vic) All members are required to also be a member of APS Vic.

Report on Last Meeting—John Sheely Curator, Warrnambool Botanic Gardens (Continued)

John and his staff receive great support

from the Friends of Warrnambool Botanic

Gardens and they have been very prominent

in helping to gain many of the improve-

ments over past decade. A recent removal

of an old shed revealed the location of the

original well constructed in 1883 and the

friends are co-ordinating a project to feature

this well and are seeking funding for it.

Last year, the Swan Reserve Garden came

under John’s control on a twelve month trial

and we look forward to Swan Reserve

becoming an annex to the Botanic Gardens.

We had a great evening last month with

John’s talk creating lots of interest and

questions from the audience. We thank John for his talk and the effort he went to for us.


The Glenelg Hopkins CMA is announcing a very exciting new project that is just begin-

ning on the Victorian Volcanic Plains (VVP) Bioregion. Bring Back the Banksias and

Save the Sheokes is a community driven project which will focus on three key species that

are rapidly disappearing from the VVP, these being:

Banksia marginata (Silver Banksia)

Allocasuarina verticillata (Drooping Sheoke)

Bursaria spinosa (Sweet Bursaria)

The general aims of the project are to:

- Map where these species used to occur

- Map where these species still occur

- Conduct genetic studies on individual populations to determine genetic health and

viability

- Establish seed orchards for these species for future seed collection

At a meeting of community members and some academics we discussed who has a good

knowledge of where these species occur and it was agreed that groups such as Field Natu-

ralists, Landcare, Friends of Groups, SGAP etc would be good places to go in search of

people who may have a wealth of knowledge that they would be happy to share. That is

why I am including you; it may not be yourself but a member of your landcare group that

you think could have some valuable information that we should know about. If so, please

could you pass this onto them.

The workshops will be held at the Lake Bolac Boat Shed on Tuesday 31st March. I will

send out a more formal invite with details about what to bring and where to go, but if you

could please lock this in that would be wonderful.

For now, if you could have a think about other people who have a good knowledge on past

and present locations of Banksia marginata, Allocasuarina verticillata and Bursaria

spinosa and let them know about the workshop that would be great. Also start going

through the vaults and find all that precious hidden data you’ve had stashed away for a

rainy day!

If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to call on the numbers

below. I will need to know who is coming for numbers and catering, so please keep in

touch. If you are unable to attend but have some information, again, please call and we’ll

arrange another way of getting this info.

Phone: 03 5571 2526 or 0427 786 243

Hoyas Do Set Seed By Kevin Sparrow

A few weeks I noticed what looked like Thistle Down (seed) underneath

one of my Hoya australis hanging baskets and was puzzled to work out

what it was and how it got there. Turns out it was seed from my hoya

plant! I found it hard to relate the seed as coming from the cluster of

hoya flowers but then noticed a seed pod still attached to the plant that

had split up the middle and had opened up to release the seed! All the

years I have been growing hoyas, I have never seen this happen before.

I wonder what the pollinator is?? Anyone know?? I have since planted

the seed and now have seeds germinating. You learn something every

day!

Bring Back the Banksias by Aggie Stevenson GHCMA


Hello and welcome to the first instalment of Glenelg Hopkins CMA’s ‘Coastal Connections’ email for 2015.

I hope everyone has had a safe, enjoyable and productive start to the year. I know a lot has been happening throughout our coastal region along with some great activities

and engagement opportunities on our doorstep! I think this may be the biggest list of items I’ve collated for my ‘CC’ email, here is a quick summary;

Yambuk Lake, Waterway Action Plan

The Yambuk Lake Waterway Action Plan (WAP) is now complete & has enabled the CMA to gain an up-to-date understanding of the system, identify local

issues affecting landholders and develop positive actions which will contribute to the on-going management of this system.

Study findings are driving a strategic on-ground works program, with funding opportunities now available for land managers. Please refer to the following

attachments for findings and how to become involved;

Yambuk Lake WAP, Summary report

Yambuk Lake WAP, Incentives for landholders

Yambuk Lake Litter Clean-up Day

As a direct finding and priority action of the Yambuk Lake WAP, the CMA is coordinating a Litter Clean-up Day at the Yambuk Lake estuary on Tuesday

17th March. This will bring a range of local groups and land managers together to address this issue, including the Yambuk Angling Club, Parks Victoria,

Basalt to Bay LC Network and the Green Army. All volunteers are welcome, meeting at the Yambuk Lake boat ramp @ 10am.

CMA Coastal Stewardship Program

It is with much excitement that I introduce the CMA Coastal Stewardship Program 2015. This program will establish land management agreements with

private landholders to protect high value coastal vegetation throughout our coastal region, while also compensating landholders financially for managing

threats to the sites.

I am about to begin a range site assessments in relation to this project; if you are a landholder or know of someone that may be interested in such opportunity

please contact me directly.

CMA Coastal Community Grants

We are all well aware of the increasing threat litter accumulation poses to our fantastic coastline and waterways. Fishcare Southwest delivered a very success

ful ‘Beach and Estuary Litter Dispersal’ project through our 2014 Coastal Grants program to help engage and educate our community on this matter. As

part of the project, they recently produced and posted a great YouTube clip which can be viewed here FCSW Litter Project; please spread the word!

The Glenelg Hopkins CMA will officially open an Expression of Interest period for our 2015/16 Coastal Community Grants in July this year. The program

will focus on community engagement, education and the delivery of on-ground actions which contribute to the health of our regions estuaries, wetlands

and coastal vegetation. Please however contact me directly at any time regarding potential concepts or project ideas.

Climate & Weather Outlook, BoM

Like myself, I’m sure a lot of people are scratching their head over our recent ‘summer’ weather, let alone what the future autumn months will bring. The

Bureau of Meteorology have just released their ‘Climate & Water Outlook’ for March-May 2015; please refer to the following link for details

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/#/overview/video

Glenelg Hopkins CMA Community Connections by Jared Obst

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y0F4lI41bo

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/#/overview/video


Glenelg Hopkins CMA Community Connections by Jared Obst

Bligh Forestry Mulcher

Tim Bligh from Bligh Vegetation Management (BVM) in conjunction with the Basalt to Bay Landcare Network recently hosted a free demonstration of some new

machinery capable of revolutionising future weed control efforts in our coastal region. Those hard to access species, such as Gorse, African Boxthorn &

Spiny rush (just to name a few…) are now on the radar! Please refer to the Mirror Bush Treatment attachment for images of this machinery in action.

Western Regional Coastal Plan 2015-2020, Draft for review

The Western Coastal Boards Draft Western Regional Coastal Plan is now available for public feedback. This is a key management document for our coastal

region and identifies challenges at a regional level, provides direction on how the coast will be managed into the future and proposes actions to address

issues.

I encourage all readers to review this document; it can be found here on the Board's website and is available for comment until Friday 20th March

2015.

Mulloway Research Angler Program, NGT

Lauren Veale from Nature Glenelg Trust (NGT) is currently undertaking a very interesting community driven research program on Mulloway. This fish is a highly

prized recreational species and some very interesting information has been obtained to date. Please refer to the attached newsletter or website link for

more information & how to become involved http://natureglenelg.org.au/first-newsletter-released-on-mulloway-research/

Estuary Update

Last but definitely not least, recent weather patterns and the lack of spring rains in 2014 has resulted in all estuaries in our region now being closed – which is the

first time all systems have been closed at the one time since May 2012. A full summary of conditions can be viewed at the Estuary Update attachment.

In closing, if you have any questions relating to the above items or know of anyone that may be interested in receiving this email, please just let me know!

All the best,

Jarred

The Victorian Native Bonsai Club will host the 4th Symposium on Australian Plants as Bonsai in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne

on April 11th and 12th 2015

If you would like more information on the program, contact Kevin Sparrow on Phone: 55626217 or [email protected]

Or more information can be found at: http://www.vicnativebonsai.com.au/

Victorian Native Bonsai Club

http://www.wcb.vic.gov.au/regionalcap.html

http://natureglenelg.org.au/first-newsletter-released-on-mulloway-research/


Timandra OPEN GARDEN

82 Windham St, [Princes Hwy thru town]

Narrawong, 3285

Sat 18th & Sun 19th April, 10.30am to 4pm

Owned and designed by

Timandra Design & Landscaping

2014 Landscaping Victoria Award Winners

Timandra is a large garden covering 1 acre. It is broken

into 3 distinct areas all with a different theme. When open as part of Open Gardens Australia, the

response of visitors to the garden was overwhelming.

www.timandra.com.au

The garden is steep and so is not suitable for pushers or the disabled. Teas will be available.

Gate proceeds are for Portland District Health [PDH]. Adults $5 per person; children under 16

free.

Phone: Alison 0418 825 625

http://www.timandra.com.au

Documents

DIARY OF EVENTS: SOCIETY FOR GROWING AUSTRALIAN …apswarrnambool.org.au/pdf/Newsletter 402 Mar 2015.pdf · called B. spinulosa “Carnarvon Gold” (the Queensland Carnarvon!)