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Plant Propagation Workshop

A plant propagation workshop was held in March 2007 and was led by John Knight from the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens. John concentrated propagating from cuttings, when he discussed different rooting hormones, cutting preparation, what kinds of cuttings and how to plant them.

This is an annual workshop and provides first-hand information so that native plant lovers can propagate locally indigenous plants. A reminder though about not taking cuttings and seeds from National Parks and other protected areas.

Community Projects

In June 2005, March 2006 and June 2007 several groups of energetic enthusiasts from our group planted 8 beds of native plants along the road beside the Merimbula airport and the Pambula-Merimbula shared pathway. The area is currently very exposed and will benefit from the colourful and hardy plants.

The plants have been propagated by some of our members. Eurobodalla Botanic Regional Gardens has also donated many plants while the airport has supplied the tree guards designed to give protection from rabbits and wallabies. These plants are replacing some of the taller trees and shrubs that had to be removed because their size created problems for planes landing.

At the last working bee it was noticed that earlier plantings were doing very well due to good rain in the last 12 months.

Our group is also taking responsibility for planting and maintaining the gardens outside the Bega Valley Shire offices. This new project was only commenced in 2006/7 but it is hoped to be fully planted by the end of 2007. It involves revitalising an earlier garden consisting of native grasses. Council and the APS committee decided the garden would benefit from some added colour.

John Knight Honoured

John Knight Wins Prestigious Award

The Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants (ASGAP) has honoured John Knight by selecting him for an Australian Plants Award. The award, in the professional category, is made in recognition of the contribution to the knowledge of Australian plants in the course of a notable professional career in a natural science field A maximum of two awards in the professional category is made every two years, so John has joined a very select band of recipients.
John was nominated by the New South Wales Region of the Australian Plants Society, and was selected from candidates offered by all the state societies. The medal and citation will be presented, in John's absence, at the Conference and Seminar of ASGAP in Western Australia, in the first week of October 2005. What a pity he couldn't teleport to Perth for the evening. The local branch of the Australian Plants Society, the SE NSW group suggested his nomination to the NSW Region, after honouring John with Life Membership last year.
The NSW Region pointed to the major contribution John has made to the growing and promotion of Australian plants in two states for at least thirty years. John's belief that using indigenous plants in amenity horticulture should be more widely promoted in municipal and other parks has been reflected in his work, particularly at the Karwarra Garden in Victoria and in the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens. He has been generous in sharing his knowledge through adult education, conferences, workshops, and leader of the Boronia and Allied Genera Study Group for many years. Congratulations, John!

Cape Conran and Errinundra Field Trip

In October 2005 27 members of the South East branch of the Australian Plants Society of New South Wales headed over the Victorian border to Cape Conran Coastal Park, then Errinundra National Park to look at native plants within two very different ecosystems.

Accommodation at Cape Conran was a choice between the well-equipped cabins or the large, nearby camping area with shady sites and innovative showers.

The Nature Trail and coastal boardwalk on the first afternoon gave us an idea of the geography,climate and botany of the region. Orchids, including duck orchids, and milkmaids(burchardia umbellata) surprised us on the edge of the track, as did the bouncing rocks on the beach.

The following morning, botanist, Allan Ward, gave us an overview of the ecology and botany and then led us on the Heathland Walk. Sedges, comesperma, baeckea, melaleucas and xanthorrhoeas formed a dense covering across the lower lying areas prompting someone to comment about a natural cottage garden that hadnâ€™t been designed. Further on, in the drier, higher areas correa reflexa with brilliant large red flowers, hid among the ancient gnarled branches of the banksias serrata.

We then took a short drive to the Cabbage Tree Palms Reserve which stood out like an oasis in the otherwise different landscape. Theories abounded as to how these giant palms came to be there. The most plausible involved the aboriginal people who used to use the seeds to make a paste to eat from the seeds.

After leaving Cape Conran we headed north then west on to Errinundra Road, stopping at Ada River camping area. Here eucalyptus nitens ( shining gums) towered overhead, their leaves silver in the sun above. Underneath southern sassafras grew and the surrounding creeks were lined with tree ferns, vines and the occasional leech. As we progressed up the hill Telopea oreades (Gippsland waratah) began to appear as well as pomaderris and a large yellow pea. The rainforest walk area near Ellery Saddle was an idyllic lunch spot and the short walk through gigantic trees and tree ferns revived us for the trip to Delegate River. We stayed at the Delegate River Tavern Cabins and camping area and the evening meal at the tavern gave us an opportunity to wonder at the diverse landscapes we had seen, before heading off home.

2006 World Environment Day Plants Swap

: Joy Cook giving helpful advice to a participant in the Plant Swap about appropriate Australian plants to substitute for the weeds. Gardeners depositing the bush invading plants to the Merimbula waste centre where they were given native plants in return.

Lake Conjola Field Trip September 2007

Lake Conjola Field Trip 18-21 September 2007 Twenty one members of the south east branch of the Australian Plants Society and six friends from Mallacoota gathered at the Lake Conjola Holiday Haven caravan park on Tuesday afternoon. After setting up camp we went for a leisurely stroll on the boardwalk at the end of the property, overlooking the opening of the estuary. It was a magnificent view, the weather was great and the Correa alba and Leptospermum laevigatum flowers were out in full force.

Wednesday morning started early with a wake-up call from Jo Benyon with her whistle at 9.00am. We were off along Porter’s Creek Dam Road to Mt Bushwalker. The walk along the plateau was beautiful, with Patersonia, Baeckea, Boronia, Isopogons, Banksias and many others dotting the bush. Tiny orchids hid in the crevices of the rocks waiting to open and larger Dedrobium speciosum sat at the base of a small waterfall.

Morning tea was had overlooking the Budawang National Park and lunch in the carpark on our return. In the afternoon we stopped many times by the road to look at giant Turpentine trees, Zieria and many other spectacular plants. After dinner John Knight gave some very interesting lessons on plant identification.

Thursday saw us head out along 12 Mile Road and many stops later we arrived at the Granite Falls carpark. Not to be deterred by the heavy rain we ventured along the short track and were rewarded by a view of the variegated coloured expanse of rock that extended forever into the rainforest below. The flowers in this area rivaled those seen in Western Australia . The bush was literally alive with colour. George Boyd Lookout was our next destination and lunch spot. It was a total contrast with Ficus, Coachwood, ferns and mosses and other rainforest plants. The view to the coast from the lookout was again magnificent. Once again John shared his plant identification skills with us after dinner.

Happy hour every evening was a great opportunity to socialize and get to know everyone better. Thanks to Jo Benyon and John Knight for organizing such a pleasurable trip.

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