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Newsbits
February 2010
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Visitors Welcome.
Next
Meeting:
Friday 12th February
7.30pm for 8.00pm start.
*Venue:
Horticultural
Research Station, Research Rd., Narara
*Guest
Speaker: Deidre J.
Speaker for February Deider J. Speaker for our February meeting will be APS member Deidre J.. Deidre is proprietor of the Sydney Rainforest Nursery at Ourimbah and teaches Conservation and Land Management at TAFE and has done many presentations at our monthly meetings in the past. Tonight the subject will be ‘Right Now’ – what to do during the summer months in preparation for autumn. Deidre will also give a short talk on cicadas; there are a lot more around this year and a new species is amongst them.
Speaker for November Nola P. Nola & Jocelyn’s book on Native Grasses for Australian Gardens proved very popular since being released so they were asked to do a follow up book. Their new book Small Native Plants for Australian Gardens was released in November and is available from most book shops for $29.95 although some book sellers have it listed for $32.95 and from Nola of course, APS members can purchase the book at a 5% discount. A bit about the book - There are 170-180 plants described in 272 glossy pages of beautifully photographed plants and all of them growing under 1m. Plants are featured that are readily available at most nurseries not just the native plants nurseries such as Nola’s The Wildflower Place and there is a lot of emphasis on colour. The response from the general public, not just plant groups such as ours, has shown that people are amazed when they see what is available in Australian native plants. In the front of the book there’s a section showing annuals, border plants, plants for containers, rockeries, shade lovers and water feature plants. Throughout the book the plants are shown in alphabetical order and a section at the back lists plants alphabetically in groups of colour, bird or butterfly attracters, plants for damp or dry areas, fragrant plants, frost tolerant plants, shade lovers, water features, etc. Then there are plants listed according to the season in which they flower. Amongst the many plants featured in the book that Nola talked about on the night was Austromyrtus dulcis ‘Copper Tops’ An upright shrub that will grow in sun or shade and cope with the most difficult of conditions, it flowers late spring to summer and has pink new growth which blends well with lower growing Hibbertias and Scaevolas. A plant that is not so easy to grow is the Crowea although some people seem to have luck with them and even get them to seed. They don’t like to be in full sun but will handle some morning sun and need a cool root run. Plant them in the shade and be rewarded with flowers for most months of the year. Tougher than the Croweas is Boronia crenulata ‘Pink Passion’, a low growing form or ground cover with highly aromatic leaves it’s fairly hardy and good in light shade and will flower from late winter right through spring. A whole new range of paper daisies has been released over the last month or so. There are some beautiful colours - pinks, golds and yellow, and they will flower throughout summer providing a lot of colour in the garden and they seem to have a compact habit. Grevillea ‘Pink Midget’ was one of the plants that Nola brought along on the night. It grows to about 60cm by 80cm and flowers continuously will tolerate some shade but flowers better if grown in full sun. Use it for a border plant or along driveways or as a feature plant in a rockery and it will combine well with Scaevolas and Dampieras with its strong colour. Sometimes Nola has customers come into The Wildflower Place asking to be shown where the native plants are, they see so much colour that they think they must be looking at exotics. There are new Scaevolas being released every week. There’s a new group called Scaevola ‘Blue Ribbon’, S.‘White Ribbon’ and S.‘Pink Ribbon’ and they look good planted in groups, they’re long flowering plants and will provide colour through the warmer months starting from mid spring right through to March. Correas are a plant that Nola finds don’t perform all that well on the Coast with the exception of our own local ones. They do better where there is not so much humidity. A new one on the market is Correa ‘Kiss Me Kate’ which only grows to 50cm. Correas provide flowers through autumn and winter when there is not much else in flower and are great bird attracters and perform well in light shade. Brachycomes are another plant that are constantly being developed and we see new ones being released all the time. There are many different colours including a yellow one which Nola doesn’t find particularly hardy. They don’t have to be treated as an annual and will come again if cut back after flowering. Verticordia plumosa seems to do alright here on the East Coast, it’s long flowering and the only Verticordia that will grow here on the Coast on its own roots. It grows to about 80cm and has blue-grey foliage and tiny pink fringed flowers that appear in spring. A good plant for a rockery or a container. There are a lot of small Banksias around now B.’Cherry Candles’ is one that grows to 50cm and displays masses of cherry and gold candles. It’s bird attracting loves full sun and needs a well drained soil. Banksia blechnifolia is from Western Australia and performs well here on the Coast particularly if in a raised bed. It has deeply lobed foliage and the flowers are a creamy-red that emerge at ground level. Spathoglottis paulinae is a tropical terrestrial orchid that grows up in the Northern Territory around Darwin. It won’t tolerate frost but is worth trying if you have a sheltered spot in the garden out of the hot afternoon sun. They tend to die down in winter but then re-emerge and flower in the spring. Ian has seen these orchids in New Guinea growing along the side of the road just a mass of flowers all different sizes and colours. They should grow around the coast. Nola is not a lover of the dwarf Kangaroo Paws because she doesn’t find them particularly hardy however there are a few exceptions. The newly released A.‘Bush Pizzaz’ displays deep magenta pink flowers for most of the year, it’s low growing and a good reliable one. Others that she would recommend are ‘Bush Pearl’ and ‘Bush Diamond’ but she generally is happier with the taller varieties that are good performers and provide colour for a long time.
Thelionema caespitosum
is a tufted grass-like lily that bears blue star-like flowers in
spring and summer and it’s a plant that Nola has used in many
gardens. It requires a well drained position in a sunny spot in the
garden or it can be grown as a container plant. Ammobium alatum [Pictured right] is a perennial with silver-grey foliage that forms in a ground hugging rosette and bears bright yellow flowers surrounded by papery bracts in summer. Jocelyn has this growing through her garden and it has seeded providing good colour month after month. Plant in full sun and keep the water up in dry periods. A favourite Callistemon of Nolas is a dwarf form of C.polandii; it only grows to about 1m and forms a rounded bush. The flowers are spectacular; a gorgeous red with gold tips and the new growth is pink. One that Nola recommends In response to a question about growing Prostantheras in full sun Nola advised that Prostantheras will tolerate morning sun but don’t perform well in full afternoon sun. They strike readily from cutting so rather than trying to move the plant, take some cuttings and plant them in a more appropriate place in the garden.
Book of the Month
Joanne F. Joanne feels that one can seem a little bit inadequate at our monthly meetings amongst seemingly extremely knowledgeable people so tonight she is representing the ones that don’t know all that much. Joanne has an obsession with weeds; her garden is at an extremely delicate stage with lawn, lots of bare patches, weeds and a spot or two where something is starting to grow so she walks around the garden very focussed looking out for weeds. While up at the Flora Festival Joanne came across a marquee where Gosford, Wyong and Lake Macquarie Councils had a display on weeds and it was here that she bought the books that she is presenting tonight. To some these may be old passé but for new people on the scene who don’t have a great depth of knowledge they are really great. The books were written by Central Coast author Ann Loughran and were published by NSW Department of Primary Industries in conjunction with the Lake Macquarie Landcare Group. These books, Native Plant or Weed – Pick the Difference Volumes 1 & 2, show how to tell the difference between native plants and weeds when they have similar characteristics. It is written in large font with large photos. The pages are on a background of green on one side for the native plant and brown on the other for the weed look-alike. Each page has a scale up the side and states the similarities and the differences between the native plant and the weed. Joanne has found these books very helpful and enthusiastically recommends them. The books can be ordered from Tocal College online at www.tocal.com with Volume 1 priced at $20 and Volume 2 at $24, or by telephone 1800 025520 between 8.30am – 4.30pm Monday to Friday. Some members would recall that author Ann L. entertained us when she did a presentation at one of our meetings a couple of years ago and she set us a test to see how good we were at telling the difference between the native and the weed. Our result was 8 out of 10 so we could all learn something from these books. Volume 1 is available to borrow from our Group Library.
Seed Collection for CEN Nursery The Community Environment Network has set up a Wildplant Community Nursery with the aim of preserving the flora of the Central Coast & Lake Macquarie areas. They are constantly expanding the range of species and collection areas for the seed bank and would welcome any donation of local native seed from people whose private land includes naturally growing native bush plants. Pretty flowering shrubs would be really welcome. Qualified staff will collect seed on private land if they have received permission and an invitation from you. For further information please contact Jenni Bailey at CEN by leaving a message on 4349 4756 or email Jenni at nursery@cen.org.au or visit CEN’s website cen.org.au
Plant of the Month Barbara M.
A favourite plant of ours over many
years is the The plant usually grows in the shape of a small mound about 0.5m high by up to 1m wide. As they become older and if the weather conditions are right they can suddenly become more like a metre plus tall and a little wider as we found last year when the 3 lining our front path put on a growth spurt and had to be removed. Other plants including another Baeckea further back from the path this time, have replaced them. We also have an older plant in the back garden that has not had a huge growth spurt. It also doesn’t grow in a neat mound like the others, possibly because it is under the gum & jacaranda and constantly has leaves & twigs falling in it. Still very pretty though, especially when it is quite shady under the trees and not a lot else will flower well.
The beautiful fine leaved bright green
foliage provides a glorious backdrop for the white summer flowers
that break the post-spring “drabness” of our garden. Baeckea is
from the Myrtaceae family so it is related to the
Leptospermum or tea trees. The flowers are like miniature tea tree
flowers and if you look in the specimens being passed around you’ll
notice the centres actually glisten. Having said Baeckea & Leptospermum are related their leaf position is quite different. Baeckea have opposite leaves and Leptospermum have alternate leaves. The flowers mainly grow on the ends of all the stems and if you can imagine a thick round shrub it can be absolutely covered in white blossom. Flowering has just begun and we can expect to have flowers for about 3 months – right through the summer. One book says they flower for up to 6 months but I think that is stretching it a bit. Baeckea virgata The Japanese garden at East Gosford grows a lot of Baeckea close together. They are kept in the small rounded bun shape all year although as they age we’ve noticed they are getting a bit woody. Our plants are nearly always tip pruned regularly but I don’t think it is really necessary. This shrub would also make a lovely specimen plant and is suitable for container growing. I read that they propagate from cuttings taken just BEFORE flowering; not after flowering which I think is more the norm. Baeckea virgata dwarf is a fairly hardy plant once it is established with TLC. The natural habitat of other taller Baeckea is in deep sandy soils in eucalypt forests close to watercourses along the NSW coast and parts of Qld so I imagine the dwarf form would grow in similar conditions. The dwarf form adapts well to almost any well-drained garden soil and is fairly tolerant of frost and drought. They do prefer filtered sun or part shade to the blazing sun and don’t object to an occasional summer drink. No pests or diseases seem to bother them in our garden. Native bees enjoy the nectar from the flowers, more so than the common garden bees. It makes a really good cut flower but my thoughts are that picking the flowers would leave a ‘hole’ in the mounded shape. Some Baeckea have recently been re-classified into the Babingtonia family but I think you’ll still find this one being sold as a Baeckea. It really is a lovely evergreen plant to have in the garden. Sources - Flowering Natives for the Home Garden by Denise Greig, Australian Native Plants by Wrigley & Fagg, Native Gardens in Miniature by Bill Molyneaux & Sue Forrester, Bushlandflora.com.au, Asgap.org.au
Plant table
Presentation by Ian S. &
assisted by Nola P. Graptophyllum excelsum [Pictured right] is a favourite of Nolas, it flowers at Christmas, looks good in the shade and the flowers have an enamelled look making them great for use as Christmas table decorations. They grow 2-3m high and the deep red tubular flowers appear in spring and early summer covering the bush and attracting honeyeaters to the garden.
Graptophyllum ilicifolium,
Elaeocarpus reticulatus,
common name Blueberry Ash, is a medium sized tree that grows to 15m
and bears white or pink fringed bell shaped flowers in spring that
are followed by blue fruits that attract birds.
Syzigium wilsonii Persoonia levis is a local plant and can be seen all around the Central Coast it grows to 5m and has attractive red flaky bark giving it an added feature Propagation is by seed or cutting but with a great deal of difficulty although they do seem to self sow in disturbed ground in the wild quite readily. NSW Christmas Bush Ceratopetalum gummiferum is a shrub that grows to about 4m high. White flowers appear on the bush in late spring and turn to bright pink or red in November or December making a great vase specimen at Christmas time. The shrub needs a good prune after flowering to keep it bushy and encourage more prolific flowering next season.
Grevillea
‘Forest Rambler’ is a cultivar of uncertain parentage that is
considered to be a ground cover but is quite capable of growing to a
height of 2m and will spread even wider. The flowers are a delicate
yellow-pink and peak in spring but spot flowers appear at other
times of the year. A very hardy plant that will grow in places
where a lot of others fail. Propagation must be from cutting.
Pelargonium australe
[Pictured right]
Pelargonium rodneyanum [Pictured left] is considered to be the most beautiful of the Pelargoniums with magenta flowers that appear above the foliage in summer to a height of 30cm. It can be propagated from seed or division. Chorizema cordatum grows to about 1m high and bears sprays of orange/red pea flowers in spring. There is also a yellow form. This plant is propagated from scarified seed or soft tip cuttings; it likes a well drained position and does best in a shady situation. Melaleuca decussata grows to 1.5m and bears small mauve bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer. Will grow in most aspects and can be propagated from seed or cutting. Prostanthera incisa grows 1-2m and has highly aromatic leaves particularly when wet from rain. It bears violet flowers mainly in spring. A local plant with a distribution area stretching from the Hawkesbury to Newcastle. This plant strikes readily from cutting. Lambertia formosa is a prickly shrub that grows to 3m although Ian has a specimen that is about 5m high x 5m across. It bears red flowers in terminal clusters for most of the year which are followed by woody fruits resembling a devil with horns lending to its common name “Mountain Devil”. The woody fruit has been made into devil dolls for the tourist trade. A hardy plant that handles most aspects and it can be grown from seed or cutting. Ammobium alatum is a perennial with silvery-grey foliage. It bears branched flowering stems of yellow flowers with white bracts to 50cm high in summer. This is a very hardy plant that tolerates most soils but must have full sun. Melaleuca erubescens grows to about 1.5m and is tolerant of poorly drained soil. Mauve flowers appear from late spring to summer. The plant benefits from a good prune after flowering and can be propagated from seed or cutting. Information sources - Fairley & Moore Native Plants of the Sydney District, Robinsons Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney and Wrigley & Fagg Australian Native Plants.
President’s Report 2009 Australian Plant Society NSW Inc-Central Coast Group Another year has passed and I consider it has been another good one for our group. It was the year we mourned the passing of Alan Hodge who with his quiet manner encouraged us all in our pursuit of plant knowledge. A few of us lost a very dear friend. We had a varied lot of speakers this year and it was very pleasing to have several of our members fill this role. Numbers at our monthly meetings and bushwalks continue to be stable. The bushwalks appear to be slower than ever with the increasing numbers of photographers amongst the group. Once again the Flora Festival experienced fine weather and our profit was about the same as 2008. My thanks to all who gave of their time and enthusiasm in the setting up, on the sale days and lastly the cleaning up. The money we raise from the Festival helps fund some of our activities. This year our small band of dedicated Katandra workers featured on Gardening Australia with ABC presenter Angus Stewart demonstrating Bill Hicks’ Long Stem Planting. Our Website continues to attract attention and generates a few inquiries. Early in the year several members made the trek down to Nowra for the State get together while later in the year a more intrepid group made their way down to Geelong for the ASGAP 25th Biennial Conference. A good time was had by all at both places. Members continue to be involved on the local scene with various organisations and with the State Body of APS. I would like to encourage members to see if they can bring along a potential member to our meetings next year. It is great to see that at least two newish members have accepted nominations for the Committee in 2010. Thanks to my fellow committee members for their contributions during the past year and to everybody thank you for the support you have given our group during 2009. Once again the worry for 2010 will be where we will be having our monthly meetings. For the first half of the year I have been advised we should be right but after that everything becomes doubtful. The offices of the Research Station are being moved to the Ourimbah Campus and the tenders close next week. We should know more early next year. Andrew
AGM & End of Year Dinner
Around 40
members attended the
AGM this year and enjoyed the dinner which followed with cold meats,
chicken, ham and a selection of salads followed by some delicious
deserts. June our cook extraordinaire provided the Christmas cake
beautifully decorated with Flannel Flowers and
Epacris longiflora
our local floral emblems and Lorna & Don G. did the honours
cutting the cake. The smaller Christmas cake also made and
decorated by June was raffled and this year was won by Gordana
Sears.
Lorna & Don cut June's beautifully decorated cake
Lifestyle Expo
A few of our members appeared at the Lifestyle Expo held at the Bateau Bay Sports Club in November to help promote the group and attempt to pick up some new members. The Expo targeted retirees with emphasis on well being and keeping an active lifestyle. There was quite a lot of interest shown by several people some of them past APS members who have recently moved into the area and applications for membership were given out to these people. We look forward to greeting them at our February meeting.
November Picnic The final outing for our bushwalk group in 2009 was held at Bruce Burgess Park Bateau Bay. Polymeria calcina
Nearby tracks passed through several
swampy areas where the yellow marsh flower,
Villarsia exaltata,
was in flower and there were thick stands of the rush
Baloskion
tetraphyllus ssp meiostachyus. The trees around the area
included the Swamp Mahogany Eucalyptus robusta. The
undergrowth included an interesting twiner with pink flowers Polymeria calycina, as well as white flower balls of
Trachymene incisa, tiny mauve
Hybanthus monopetalus, and yellow There were also many wire lilies Caesia parviflora (white) and C.vittata (mauve striped).
Clusters of orchids that we found included Cryptostylis erecta (Bonnet orchid), C.subulata (Tongue orchid), Dipodium variegatum (Hyacinth orchid), and the Onion orchid Microtis parviflora.
Cryptostylis subulata Following our picnic lunch we headed up the track that leads to Crackneck Lookout and on the way found numerous vines twining through the undergrowth, such as Kangaroo Apple, Billardiera scandens, Devil’s Twine Cassytha pubescens, and the Water Vine Cissus hypoglauca. The golden flowers of the creepers Hibbertia scandens and H.dentata were also plentiful.
There were patches of the striped Bonnet orchid, Cryptostylis erecta, [Pictured left]and the strange wiry clusters of the Comb Fern Schizaea dichotoma loaded with brown fertile comb-like heads. The day was enjoyed by about 20 members and hopefully we will have some new faces appearing on our bushwalks that have been planned for 2010.
Mt. Bouddi Spur Sunday 14th February 2010
Where: Meet at 10 am at Mt. Bouddi Picnic
Area Directions: Take the Mt. Bouddi Road off the Scenic Road, half way between Maitland Bay Dr. and Grahame Dr., south of MacMasters Beach. This is a narrow but paved track leading to the picnic area, which has parking space, toilets, and picnic tables under the trees. The walk starts under a tall canopy of Angophora and Eucalypts, and gradually climbs to a rocky lookout. Then it emerges from the forest to an open view above the ocean. Steps lead down towards the cliffs here, but since it may be quite hot at this time of the year, we will turn back through the forest to lunch in the shady picnic area. Bring plenty of water, mossie repellent, and a hat for the walk. For lunchtime, extra chairs if possible. What to see: There may not be a lot flowering, but this forest walk has lots of interesting trees, with patches of semi-rainforest vegetation. A photo of Maitland Bay taken from Mt Bouddi Spur is featured on our 'Home Page'. For more information, you can ring Diana before 9am on the day, or Elsie on 0408 653140 after 9.30am. New members and visitors will be especially welcome.
Membership Renewals This month members renewing in the March Quarter have received their reminder notices. The forms show the options for renewing, either for 1 Quarter only, to June 2010, or to June 2011. Most of our Group members are now financial to June in either 2010 or 2011. New members who joined since last June will get 1 full year's membership before being asked to renew. Many overdue members have still not advised whether they wish to renew. It would be very helpful if those not intending to renew could also advise, by ringing Diana on 4372 1120
CD - Native Plants & Bushwalks of the Central Coast
Many years ago Alan created a list of plants that the group had identified while on their monthly bushwalks. This list was passed over to Diana & Barry a few years ago and it was then converted into a data base. Over the past 3 years a great many more plants have been added to the list and now 800 plants are included on the data base. Photographs were also collected along the way some taken by Diana & Barry and others taken by some of the keen photographers amongst the group members. From this data base and collection of photos a DVD was produced to run on the coach for the Sydney Tour of the ASGAP Conference last year. This particular tour was subsequently cancelled due to lack of numbers but a seed was planted and the thought of a CD began to grow. After many hours spent at the computer the CD is now complete. It contains over 400 photographs and lists 24 bushwalks in National Parks, State Forests and Reserves of the Central Coast region and each bushwalk has a listing of the plants which may be found along that walk. In some cases maps are included. The disc is available for $15 plus $2.50 postage (within Australia only) The CD can be purchased at any of our monthly meetings.
or if you wish to order
a form is available from this website.
The Committee and members would like to thank Diana and Barry for all the effort and hours spent in producing the CD the profits from the sale of which will benefit the group.
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