Next Meeting

Leaders Report

Around the Garden

Our two Grevillea chrysophaea have not contributed to the profusion of colour in our garden although they have grown considerably and are looking very healthy. They generally flower mainly from early spring to early summer however our plants do not show any signs of flowering this season. It is interesting to note that Gr. chysophaea is on the list of Threatened Flora and Fauna of West Gippsland despite the fact that they appear to be relatively widespread in the area. I noticed recently that they are available from selected nurseries, some as grafted plants. Looks like we’ve been beaten to the punch Harold! On doing a little research I found that the first mention of the plant was by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1853 in his list of Australian Plants. While the plant was listed there was no accompanying description. Von Mueller was appointed Victorian Government botanist from 1853 until his death in 1896 and was also director of the botanic gardens at one time. He travelled widely, particularly in Victoria collecting samples. Where he came across his specimen I could not find out however Gr. chrysophaea is endemic to Victoria, found in the Brisbane Ranges and in Gippsland roughly from Licola to Woodside. Olde and Marriot list three forms, the Brisbane Ranges form, Gippsland form and a Holley Plains form. I assume it to be of the Holley Plains form however plants from Sperm Whale Head have smaller but more abundant flowers. A similar plant (Gr. celata) exists in the Colquhoun State forest near Lakes Entrance although I have not been able to track it down.

Following up on my “hot house” experience, I have managed to save approximately half of the plants that were “blown away” by placing them back in the propagator. It is of course quite wet in there so I am unsure of how long they will tolerate the conditions, however at least they should have a good start.

Susan and I will be heading for Halls Gap and Gellibrand again this year to combine some bushwalking and wildflower photography. Hopefully, despite the continuing dry conditions in the west of the state, the wildflowers will be up to their usual best. I remember when we went with Mary and Col to the northern Grampians late last year things were quite dismal on the plant scene.

There are some interesting web sites on Australian native plants. One I discovered, a forum, makes for some interesting reading. www.au.gardenweb.com/forums/

I hope you are all enjoying your gardens as much as Susan and I have over recent weeks. It is such a fantastic time of year.

Are there any “words of wisdom” rolling around in your head? If there is, we need them to be written down and forwarded to Marg for inclusion in the newsletter.

If you haven’t guessed we are at present a little light-on for material, so please help out if you can.

Last Meeting—Fungi and Lichens—Warren Simpson

Unfortunately we were unable to track down Bruce Fuhrer for the meeting, however Warren volunteered to present a talk on the fungi and lichens he was able to photograph on a recent visit to the Morwell National Park. Warren’s photographs were excellent and really portrayed these amazing living things in their true splendour. Lichens are believed to have been around for at least 40 million years so we need places like Morwell National Park to ensure their preservation.

Hope to see you all next month from John Stephens.

Included are photographs of some of my favourite species—Grevilleas—three from my garden and the “Sylvia” from a neighbouring garden.

Superb - Grevillea “Sylvia”

Mysterious - Grevillea “Caloundra Gem”

New - Grevillea “Tucker Time”

Spectacular - Grevillea “White Wings”

Plants in My Garden

By Mike Beamish

Callistemon
pityoides

Species: Callistemon pityoides
Family:Myrtaceae
Derivation:

Callistemon: From the Greek kalos, meaning beauty, and stemon, meaning thread, referring to the showy stamens of the flowers.

pityoides: From the Greek Pitys, meaning pine, and the suffix -oides, referring to the narrow pine-like leaves.

Common Name: Alpine Bottlebrush
Distribution: Grows in boggy areas of the highlands, from eastern Victoria through New South Wales and creeping into southern Queensland, often in alpine heathland and open sites where shallow inundation occurs.
Description:A variable shrub which may be rounded and compact to 1 metre tall by 1m across, or up to 3m tall and 2.5m across in ideal conditions. Leaves are thick and linear to 3cm long and 2mm wide, silvery-grey when young, darkening with age, are borne at an acute angle to the stem and tipped with a sharp point. Flowers are small creamy-yellow bottlebrushes up to 4cm long and 2cm in diameter, forming 4mm globular capsules when mature. Flowering occurs in summer in its natural habitat, but at lower altitudes flowers can be found all year round with a flush in springtime.
Opinion: If my memory is accurate (a debatable point these days), my specimen originated from Colin Jackson’s propagation table and no doubt arrived in my garden as a prize in the club raffle. It is possible though, that I bought it at one of our swap or sell nights or from somewhere else entirely. It was planted on the nature strip on the north side of the block a year or three ago and hasn’t looked back. Full sun and exposure doesn’t bother it, the heavy and usually damp soil probably remind it of home. It is currently about waist high and has flowered better in each successive year since it was planted. This year it started blooming in mid-winter and has only just finished its main flush (late September), although there are still a couple of flowers out and more buds forming all the time. It is probably not big enough to be bothered pruning yet, but I might dead-head it to prevent the woody capsule look down the track. I haven’t tried propagation from cuttings yet, but I presume striking will be similar to other bottlebrushes, relatively easy even in my basic facilities. I have thrown a bit of seed collected from the hills into a punnet and had a reasonable germination, but the seedlings seem to be very small and slow, so I haven’t yet potted any up. If they all survive, I’ll have truck loads of them to find a new home for.

Sources: Wrigley and Fagg—Bottlebrushes, Paperbarks and Tea Trees

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, Carolyn at Trafalgar, and Brian at Morwell.