Next Meeting

AGM - Our next meeting is arguably the most important of the year, the AGM. Please think about who you want in the various positions and make your presence felt on the night.

The meeting will not be all business however as we hope to indulge in some trivia to see if members memories are functioning as well as they should!

TRIVIA NIGHT and bring a plate please.
DATE: THURSDAY 9TH AUGUST 2007
TIME: 7:30Pm
Venue: Horticultural Building at Morwell TAFE adjacent to Kernot Hall.

Leaders Report

Around the Garden

Well I have just returned from a short but well earned rest on the south coast of New South Wales. We stayed some days in Eden and also at Moruya Heads. With the abundance of spectacular coastline and the many State and National parks it is a great place to visit. I love it as I have always been taken with places where, as the title of the well known book suggests—“the forest meets the sea”.

Prior to leaving we had that heavy rain “event” and some quite strong and directionally variable wind. This played havoc in the garden and several plants were once again blown over and had to be staked. I guess others have experienced this over the last few weeks. I am not sure if it is worth staking the plants once the damage has been done. Perhaps it is better to be ruthless and just remove and replace. However it is hard thing to accept that the plants you have purchased and tended with such loving care are no longer worthy of existence in your garden. Sure, new plants of the same species should grow and thrive to take their place however this always seems to take such a long time. Maybe some of our members have additional thoughts on this aspect?

While on holidays we visited the Bateman’s Bay Botanic Gardens. We had driven past on several occasions and decided to drop in late one afternoon for a quick look. To say we were surprised and even amazed is an understatement. The gardens are a project involving the Eurobodalla Shire Council and the local community to ensure the continuity of the plants of the district. A fern gully has been surrounded by water features, curved paths, embankments of plants, boardwalks, bridges, an amphitheatre, an arboretum and a children’s section. Most of the plants have aluminium spikes at their base showing names. Volunteers have provided much of the labour, with many hours assistance devoted to the project and much was being done while we were there. Numerous plantings have been sourced from the over two thousand locally available plant species, obtained from cuttings or from the forests of the area with permission, propagated on site and many sold to the public. The herbarium section contains over seven thousand plants covering two thirds of the species of the district. The visitors centre has an abundance of literature and a café for those who get the “hungrys”. This probably sounds like a plug and it is, if you are able to find time to visit, spend the whole day—our forty-five minutes prior to the four o’clock closing was nowhere sufficient to do justice to the project. It would be fantastic to create something similar in our area; it would be a real asset to the Latrobe Valley.

We naturally visited our favourite nursery in the area, the award winning Kangarutha Nursery at Tathra, and of course we just had to purchase some plants! While there we struck up conversation with one of the sales team who has just moved up from Victoria. She had recently worked at the impressive Kuranga Native Nursery and said if given the opportunity anyone interested in native plants should visit the Jervis Bay Botanic Gardens as it is the most impressive she had seen. So this could also be well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Thanks to those who have provided rainfall figures. It is certainly interesting to “compare notes” and observe the variation in the figures. I think Harold is winning the rainfall race this year as he usually does, but just by a nose.

I have received 582 mm to this point in the year which compares favourably with previous yearly totals. In 2003—454.5mm, 2004—504.75mm, 2005 - 653.35mm, 2006 - 489mm for the entire year!

Prior to the school holidays, after the heavy “rain event” I went with Max Sargent to the Morwell wetlands. On the way Max was lamenting the lack of water in the wetlands and did not hold any hope for improvement as Morwell had received little rain. I suggested that the Morwell River may provide some water to the wetlands however he was not confident. On arrival we were extremely surprised to see water flowing from the river over the access road and into the wetlands! Needless to say Max was like a kid with a new toy. We enjoyed an hour and a half at the wetlands in which time the water rose over a metre and flooded the lower sections of the landing. Many spiders and other creepy crawlies were racing ahead of the rising waters and literally covered the posts of the structure and the frogs were singing gratefully and with gusto in almost every direction. It was a certainly a fascinating experience seeing the water rise so quickly and one I will remember for a long time. Max even went out the next afternoon to obtain some impressive photos.

See you at the next meeting—John Stephens. Some views of the Bateman’s Bay Botanic Gardens.

Bateman's Bay Botanic Gardens

Bateman's Bay Botanic Gardens

Bateman's Bay Botanic Gardens

Bateman's Bay Botanic Gardens

Plants in My Garden

By Mike Beamish

Dryandra
cuneata

Species: Dryandra cuneata
Family:Proteaceae
Derivation:

Dryandra: Named after Jonas Dryander (1748-1810), a Swedish botanist and friend of Robert Brown (who named the genus). Dryander succeeded Solander as librarian to Sir Joseph Banks and was the first Librarian of the Linnean Society of London.

cuneata: A Latinised form of the botanical term ‘cuneate’, which means wedge-shaped, in reference to the leaves.

Common Name: Wedge-leaved Dryandra
Distribution: Occurs in sandy heaths in the south-west of Western Australia, mainly between Albany and Esperance with isolated occurrences north of Perth.
Description:A medium-sized, well-branched shrub to 1.5 metres high, sometimes erect, sometimes spreading. Leaves are wedge-shaped (hence the name), up to 70cm long and 30mm wide, tapering to the base, with deeply toothed and prickly margins. The yellow flower heads are borne terminally over the winter months, are about 40mm in diameter and are surrounded by short silky bracts about 12mm long. The perianth tube of individual flowers is about 30mm long and also covered in silky hairs, with the style being about 38mm long when the flowers are open.
Opinion: My plant came from a quarterly weekend sale a year or three back and immediately went into a 45cm square waterwell tub, with a Snow Daisy (Brachyscome nivea) and a Morning Iris (Orthrosanthos laxus) for company. All these plants have survived the dry periods, although the Snow Daisy has been known to droop piteously when I forget to top up the well, which occurs much more often than it should. The Dryandra really is a prickly mongrel, with those stiff, rigid and sharp spines that go through even the toughest of fabrics with ease. As you can see from the photo, the plant looks pretty good when posed to hide all the dead leaves that seem to gather along the lower branches. I don’t know if this is normal or a symptom of the plant not being entirely happy with its lot in life, but I’ll perservere with a bit of slow-release Osmocote for Natives, perhaps a re-potting to refresh the soil mix, maybe a touch of judicious pruning but taking care not to remove all the flowering heads, and a resolution to water a tad more often, if only for the benefit of the Snow Daisy.

Sources: Wrigley and Fagg- Banksias, Waratahs & Grevilleas

Rainfall

How much did you get? If you measure the rainfall at your place please let Marg W. know so we can do our own rainfall chart. Wayne at Tanjil Sth. John at Traralgon Sth. Harold at Drouin. Mike at Boolarra.

Harold did a comparison on the totals of the 1st 5 months of 2005-2007:
2007 - 277mm,
2006 - 396mm,
2005 - 290mm.

From Mike, that makes a total of 409mm for the first 6 months, which is about an inch more than my 14 year average (383mm) for this period.