Information Grampians... · facts about the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) which many did not know. On the 9th March 1822, the honey bee arrived in Sydney on the “Isabella”

Australian Plants Society Grampians Newsletter 1

NEXT MEETING7:30pm 20th November Pomonal Hall

Forgotten WoodlandsBill WeatherlySupper: A to K

Oct/Nov 2018

DECEMBER MEETING6:00pm 18th December Anita Evans’

Come to Five Ducks Farm for a ‘Berry Feast’BYO picnic food, drinks and chairs

InformationBill Weatherly, next month’s speaker, is one of the contacts for the The Friends of theForgotten Woodlands group. The group is involved with the Victorian Volcanic PlainsConservation Management Network. “Forgotten Woodlands” describes the woodlands ofBanksia, Sheoak, Wattle, Bursaria and Tree Violet that were once significant keystones toecology of the Victorian Volcanic Plains. He lives in Dunkeld and has been highly recommendedas a speaker by the Hamilton APS group.

We have a treat coming up for our final meeting of the year on 18th December. Anita has invitedus to Five Ducks Farm for a ‘Berry Feast’. BYO picnic food, drinks and chairsand something to add to a bowl of berries.Also at that meeting we will planning our program for next year. Please think about whatactivities you would like to do with the group in 2019. A list of ‘speakers’ and their topics can befound at APS Vic website. Also if you know someone who would like to talk to our groupor a garden to visit. Please send ideas to Andrea.

Prior to the group meeting on 16th October, the Grampians group committee met to discuss afew items. John King and Ross Simpson have offered to fill the vacant positions of VicePresident and Ordinary Member respectively. All members of the committee agreed to theseappointments. Thank you to both John and Ross. The position of President remains vacant butaccording to the model rules, the Vice President can stand in for the President until one isappointed or until the next AGM in 2019.A short debrief of the Flower Show was also discussed. A team will be needed to run the 2019Flower Show. A date for a meeting to discuss 2019 Flower will be made soon. All members willbe invited to join in.If you have any comments about the 2018 show please email them to Andrea for discussion atthe upcoming meeting.


Last Meeting

Native Bees and Other Pollinators. Denis Crawford

Denis Crawford began his talk with a question for us. What is a pollinator? There was silence from the audience, who was game to answer? Denis is the guru about allthings with many legs and some with wings.He proceeded to tell us. A pollinator is any animal that carries pollen from the male part of theflower to the female part of a flower. Sounded simple except for the next fact he told us that thisprocess is not done on purpose, it just happens while the animal is feeding. Thank goodness forrandom behaviour and chance, I say!

The next generation of plants depends on bees, birds, wasps, etc to pollinate the flowers afterwhich the plant can produce fruits and seeds. It’s all about the cycle of life.Denis continued to tell us stories about various pollinators and plants and how they find eachother. For the full tale about flower wasps and orchids refer to his website Graphic Science andhis blog “One minute bugs” and read ‘Simply irresistible’For all orchid lovers, he suggested reading Orchid pollinators ofVictoria by Rudie Kuiter for more tales.

The animal that most of us think of when hearing the wordpollinator is the humble European honey bee. Denis told us somefacts about the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) which manydid not know. On the 9th March 1822, the honey bee arrived inSydney on the “Isabella” His question to us was, “What pollinatedplants in 1821?”Many listening were wondering, how did he know this fact?The native Australian bee is the answer, of which there arebetween two to three thousand species. These bees are solitaryby nature, make their own nests and do not form colonies like theEuropean bee. They are good wildflower and crop pollinators and

Resin beepic: Joan Pitaro

Following Kevin’s resignation as President, John King has agreed to fill the role of VicePresident and chair the monthly meetings. Because of his continuing commitments inMelbourne he may not be able to attend every meeting. If you are asked to lead a meetingplease accept and regard it as an honour!

On behalf of all members, the committee sent the following letter of thanks to Kevin:

Dear Kevin, On behalf of APS Grampians group members, we would like to thank you for being thePresident of our group. Your contributions, hard work and dedication to the role of President has been appreciated byall members. We wish you all the best with completing your new house and building a lovely garden for youand Sandy to enjoy.Looking forward to seeing you at the next group meeting, APS Grampians


their honey is a delicious bush food. Native bees can be black,yellow, red, metallic green or even black with blue polka spots.They can be fat and furry or sleek and shiny. The Blue BandedBee Amegilla is one we may have seen. Other interesting beesmentioned and pictured were the Cuckoo bee, Leaf Cutter bee andthe Resin bee.

Another question he askedwas “Do bees like abee/insect house /hotelbuilt for them?”These structures can lookgood but how functionalare they? Denis showed

us photos of a few he has seen and even a log thathappened to have small holes in it. The choice is ours. Agood example can be seen at the Halls Gap BotanicalGarden. He suggested that if you really, really want tomake one, make two or three small ones and placethem around your garden. Don’t use pine cones as spiders like them but it depends on howmuch you like spiders, he said, as he loves them. Denis recommends reading Native Bees of Australia by Terry Houston published by CSIRO formore information and visit www.aussiebee.com.au .

The last questions he had for us were, “Where have all the insects gone? Is the ecosystemcollapsing and why is this so? Why are there reports of a bee apocalypse by the media and onthe internet?His answer to these questions was Nullius Verba which means, ‘take nobody’s word for it’ Denis suggests we look at the science and do our own research. Do not always believe what iswritten on Facebook and the internet, most of it is alarmist and ‘fake news’.There are many good studies being done which are looking at the effect of habitat loss, use ofinsecticides, climate change, exotic species being more widely introduced to our gardens andurban spread. Research is also showing that there are some insects and bee populations thatare increasing while others are declining, there seems to be a lot of variation from one year tothe next. Lots of questions are being asked and answers are waiting to be found. Denisrecommended looking at the Rothamsted Insect survey online for factual and interestinginformation.

What can we do to help the pollinators? Denis told us not to feed sugar solution or honey tobees, but to plant more trees like messmate, flowering gums and lots of other flowering plants.I plant a lot of borage, bees love it. What do you plant?

Denis Crawford’s blog is at, http://oneminutebugs.com.auAndrea

Blue-banded beepic: Joan Pitaro

Cuckoo beepic: aussiebee.com.au


September’s Giant Flower Table

It seems like ancient history now, but for the record:

Wayne FareyThryptomene calycinaThryptomene Thryptomene denticulataThryptomene strongylophyllaThryptomene saxicola ‘Payne’s Hybrid’Thryptomene saxicola ‘Beth’s Pride’Thryptomene saxicola ‘Mingenew’Dryandra praemorsa ssp splendensDryandra foliosissimaIsopogon cuneatusIsopogon latifoliusEucalyptus caesia ‘Silver Princess’Eucalyptus caesia ssp caesiaAlyogyne huegelliiChorizema cordatumHakea pendensGrevillea ‘Tirari Blaze’Grevillea magnificaGrevillea fastigiataGrevillea tetragonolobaAcacia euthycarpaLeionema dentataMicromyrtus ciliataAcacia aphyllaAcacia denticulosaGrevillea alpina Bendigo formPetrophile bilobaAcacia cognataMelaleuca trichophyllaGrevillea ‘Bonfire’Grevillea bipinnatifidaGrevillea intricataGrevillea petrophiloidesEucalyptus pleurocarpaHakea anadeniaPhebalium ‘Golden Glow’Senna artemisoidesMargaret BurbidgeCorrea ‘Mallee Bells’Eucalyptus caesia ‘Silver Princess’Poa labillardieriChrysocephalum semipapposumHardenbergia violaceaKennedia nigricansAcacia acinaceaGrevillea ‘Superb’Dendrobium speciosissimaAcacia cognataMelaleuca diosmifoliaThryptomene denticulataGrevillea lanigeraCorrea albaPhebalium squamulosumProstanthera ovalifolia

Terry BurkeOlearia? WhiteGrevillea ‘Ellendale Pool’Calothamnus quadrifidusBanksia ericifoliaDryandra praemorsaGrevillea flexuosaThryptomene calycinaBanksia coccineaPetrophile bilobaCarole McGregorBanksia occidentalisBanksia menziesiiBanksia tricuspisBanksia confertaGrevillea ‘Winparra Gold’Kennedia nigricansGrevillea dielsiana OrangePhil WilliamsGrevillea dielsiana RedProstanthera rotundifoliaPandorea pandorana ‘Golden Showers’Hakea platyspermaPhilotheca myoporoidesAstus subroseusIndigofera australisJoan PitaroPhilotheca verrucosusCorrea ‘Carawatha Lantern’Astus subroseusLloyd ThomasThemeda triandra Dried specimenNeil MarriottAcacia aphyllaDryandra longifolia ssp archiosHakea pendensGrevillea flexuosaCorrea GwenEremophila oldfieldii ssp angustifoliaGrevillea marriottiiLinda HandscombeAcacia spectabilisCryptandra scortechiniiAgonis linariifoliaHakea orthorrhynchaHakea macraeanaHakea nitidaHakea trifurcataHakea cucullataHakea neurophyllaIsopogon dawsoniiEucalyptus caesia x orbifoliaBoronia megastigmaBoronia denticulataGrevillea ‘Coral Baby’


POMONAL NATIVE FLOWER SHOW

The 36th Annual Pomonal Native Flower Show was held on the 6th and 7th of October 2018 atthe Pomonal Hall.

It was a wonderful weekend. The weather was greatand the people came. Some were repeat visitors whohave the first weekend in October locked into theirdiaries to visit Pomonal! Others saw the signs on theroad and thought why not stop and see what wasgoing on. Others were told by friends or relatives tocome and see hundreds of beautiful native plantspecimens and other displays. Some read the articlein the Saturday Age, ‘Six things to see in Pomonal’,and got into their cars.

This year there was a very interesting display fromthe Grassland project team and many Rainforestplants found their way into the hall. The largest andoldest of them all was the Wollemi Pine.How grand itdid look in the middle of the Hall. The first stunning floral display of the show was inthe foyer - a magnificent arrangement of foliage andflowers. Many photos were taken and some of thecomments overheardwere: “beautiful”,“stunning” and “musthave been puttogether by aprofessional floralartist”. Those sittingon the entry tablenodded tothemselves andwhispered: yes thereis such a talentedperson in our group.Thank you Linda.

Thank you to allthose who sat at theentry tables, makingvisitors feel welcome.

Once entry was paid, raffle tickets bought anddirections given to the Open Gardens, people walkedinto the hall, to see, touch and smell the beautiful

Colin and Danielle at the entry table

Wendy busy selling books

Neil lurking in the rainforest

Linda’s superb foyer display


flower specimens. Magnifying glasses were availableto look even closer at the flowers. Many took theopportunity to do this.Carole’s cushion, one of the raffle prizes, wasadmired by many and some visitors even recognisedit as being one of your creations, Carole. Thank you.

Thank you to those who grow and care for theflowers that are picked, those who donated raffleprizes and those who were willing to have theirgardens open to the public to wander around andenjoy.

Food and drinks were enjoyed at the café and manytook time to look over the many books on display. Thank you to Nadya and her team for feedingthe crowd and to Wendy and team for encouraging people to look at and buy some of the

beautiful books available this year.Part of this year’s show was a compost judging session thatwas organised by thelocal kids fromPomonal PrimarySchool. The judgesperformed very welland announced thewinner. The kids hada great time.An outdoor floralarrangementcompetition was alsoheld. Six apprenticefloral artists from ourgroup put together asmall flower bowldisplay which decorated the lovely mosaic towers in front of the

hall. Congratulations to Pauline Burke for winning the People’s Choice award. Better luck nextyear to the others!

Outside the hall, native plants were offered for sale. Itwas a native gardeners’ delight to go shopping. Somuch choice! Thanks to all those who provided theplants to sell. Having plants available for visitors tobuy is a great addition to the overall attraction of theflower show.

Our visitors’ book was full of praise and confirmswhat we know already. Typical comments were,“Always Great, Pretty Cool, Stunning, Fantastic,Marvellous, Beautiful, Wonderful, Great, Beyond MyExpectations, Remarkable, Glorious, Fabulous andMagnificent”.

Experts judging the compost

Pauline’s winning entry

The busy sales area

Jacqueline and Lloyd with their grasslandplants display


People travelled from Bunbury WA, Adelaide andother SA towns, Coburg, Moe, Little River,Horsham, Hamilton, Stawell, across the road andmany more towns to visit our show. Thank you to allwho visited.

On Behalf of the Committee, I would like to thank allwho made the 36th Annual Pomonal Native FlowerShow a great success.Special thanks go to those who spent the last fewmonths planning and producing the show, whoplanted, weeded andlandscaped theirgardens, who helpedmove the tables andchairs, filled jars withflowers and water, thesweepers, the moppers,the ones who knowwhere the plant namecards go, to all thegardeners who grow theplants and then allowthem to be cut to put inthe show. Lastly a special thankyou goes to Matilda.Thank you for sharing

your knowledge with those you took on the Orchid walk. Many ofthe walkers expressed their appreciation, making comments like,“Wonderful!”and “I have never seen so many different orchids in thesame place”

Planning for the next show starts early in 2019, watch this space for the Flower show meeting.Please join in, it is a fun and rewarding activity.Andrea

General view of the show

Botanist Ellis Rowan. Our only visitor from the19th century!

APSVic Grampians Committee 2018-19Office BearersPresident: VacantVice President: John KingSecretary: Andrea Shelley (0405 993 763)Treasurer: Anita Evans (5358 4104)

Ordinary MembersDavid HandscombeBernie ShanahanRoss Simpson

RolesNewsletter Editor: Phil WilliamsMemberships: Anita EvansFlower Show Coordinators:David and Linda Handscombe

Remember this is your newsletter and it will only be as good as the articles that you put in it.Thanks to for Andrea, Linda, Jackie and Jocelyn for their contributions. If there are articles youwish to contribute or if there are things you would like to see in our newsletter please [email protected],au or by phone 0438 566 250 or by snail at P.O. Pomonal 3381

Lloyd with one of the many visitorswho took part in his hands ongrassland display

Documents

Information Grampians... · facts about the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) which many did not know. On the 9th March 1822, the honey bee arrived in Sydney on the “Isabella”