Next Meeting

Robert accompanied by his wife Norma will demonstrate how to graft grevilleas which I know will be of great interest to many members. There was a suggestion that it would be worthwhile visiting the Brown’s garden prior to their impending move. Norma suggested the “sooner the better” as it is currently a good time for viewing the grevilleas. What do you think? We will discuss this at the next meeting and arrange a visit if that is the wish of members.

For those interested, at the conclusion of the meeting I will speak briefly about preparing images for inclusion in the newsletter. A number of members have asked for help in reducing image size.

Date: Thursday 8th Nov 2007
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Horticultural Building at Morwell TAFE adjacent to Kernot Hall.

LEADERS REPORT

Around the Garden

There has been so much happen recently that I do not know where to start! Susan and I had a really great holiday, a much needed rest before the “silly season” really begins. We were most impressed this year by the variety and proliferation of the wildflowers in the central Grampians. I have not previously seen such a range of orchids in close proximity to Hall’s Gap. We walked Boronia and Chautauqua Peaks, up to the Pinnacle through Silent Street and wandered Heatherlie Quarry. Only the latter gave away the true extent of the lack of rainfall in the area as the other locations were very impressive. The remainder of the holiday was divided between Mt Eccles National Park and Gellibrand. The wildflowers at Mt Eccles were almost non existent, well outnumbered by weeds however the range and tameness of the fauna was outstanding. One koala entertained us in a tree above the caravan and the possums and birds were extremely friendly. We discovered some heathland on sandy loam very close to Gellibrand, in the Carlisle State Park with many Xanthorrhoea australis. This was a surprise considering the nature of much of the Otways and begs a more thorough exploration on a subsequent visit. It was amazing how wet it was at Gellibrand, definitely gum boot country even in the caravan park! To finish the holiday we took a spectacular ride in a little helicopter over the Great Ocean Road—a first for us both.

On our return home the garden was looking quite much as it had when we left, probably due much to the forty-nine millimetres of rain that fell during the fortnight! Unfortunately we lost one recently planted and expensive grevillea however the garden is quite impressive at present and a pleasure to wander.

A few of my upended “babies” are looking quite healthy although many of my cuttings require attention. One of our members was singing the praises of washed sand being all that is required to strike successful cuttings. Well Wayne, I can tell you that an experiment of mine was very successful. Of fifteen grevilleas placed in washed sand only one has not taken, with the others developing very long root systems! It just proves there are many ways to achieve the same conclusion. Some of the successful cuttings are of the relatively new Grevillea “Tucker Time”. I have “pricked them out” and potted them so all I have to do now is keep them alive!

Another recent surprise in the garden was the discovery of a number of sun orchids in the sand and rubble of the embankment I have been shaping at the side of the drive. It shows how long since I have completed some work. (Don’t tell Susan.) The orchids were open for one tantalisingly short day. I was planning to take some photographs of them for the “experts” to identify as they did not appear to be of the usual varieties seen in our area. I looked in “Native Orchids of Australia” thinking I would work it out. But which one??? Being a pinkish-mauve colour I thought I would easily identify them however a long peruse of the thirty pages of Jones dedicated to sun orchids failed to satisfy my curiosity. Unfortunately to my knowledge they have not been open since and I have been unable to obtain a photograph! I do plan to keep watching, fingers crossed.

It felt like Susan and I had just unpacked the caravan when it was time to pull out the tent and head for Goongerah. What a wonderful weekend we had in such a remote place. Susan and I had not been there before and really enjoyed the experience. The Waratah “hunt” proved very successful, not that it was too hard with many plants spotted (at Martins Creek on the return trip) not that far from Orbost! The Telopea oreades can be a spectacular tree, some we saw reaching near ten meters in height—not the shrubs I had been expecting. On the Saturday we did a loop of the Errinundra Plateau and completed the boardwalk through some impressive cool temperate forest. Thank goodness we had the GPS, we would have been lost without it, wouldn’t we Mike. On Saturday night we had a fantastic feast, gazed at stars and counted the number of satellites whizzing past that was until our vision became impaired by lack of sleep or something! On Sunday we headed up to McKillops Bridge, a massive structure for such a remote place, and explored the area for plants in the oppressive heat. It was very dry there, in contrast to the lush green of the Goongerah valley. The weekend was only marred by the fact that one member of our group, Peter, was quite ill for twenty-four hours.

Oh by the way Doris—I see what you inferred about the “loo with a view”. A most impressive and enjoyable edifice in which to sit and ponder the delights of country living, just ask Peter! I won’t tell more as I am sure you will hear more in the near future.

A big thankyou must go to Mike for organising a fantastic few days in a delightful part of our country. It is a pity that more members were not able to attend and enjoy.

Last Meeting - Orchids and their Idendification - Warren Simpson

Warren certainly appeared to make orchid identification easy. Unfortunately, despite my knowledge being improved, I still have problems as you can ascertain from my aforementioned failure with the sun orchid. Oh well they say practice makes perfect so I will keep trying. Thankyou Warren for providing an extremely informative session on this difficult subject, I am sure the more intelligent members, i.e. those other than I, gained a lot from the experience.

The ensuing field trip was excellent thanks to Warren’s expertise in this area. The first location we visited was a veritable “garden in the wilderness” with masses of “Billy Buttons” and so many orchids it was difficult to observe one plant without trampling others. Those who attended made some great discoveries, certainly increased their knowledge on the topic and probably added numerous photographs to their collection. Lunch was enjoyed at Seninis camping area before it was back to exploring for more orchids on the return trip. As we located numerous sun orchids it was suggested we complete a follow-up trip the weekend after the next meeting. We will discuss the possibility of this at the meeting. Thanks to Warren it turned out to be costly personal exercise as I now have my own Magellan GPS!!!!

Plants in My Garden

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By Mike Beamish

Beaufortia
squarrosa

Species: Beaufortia squarrosa
Family:Myrtaceae
Derivation:

Beaufortia: Named after Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (1630?-1714), who had botanic gardens at Badminton and Chelsea and a large collection of flower drawings.

squarrosa: From the Latin squarrose, a botanical term used to describe parts that spread out at right angles from a common axis, in this case referring to the leaves.

Common Name: Razzle Dazzle (cultivar name)
Distribution: Western Australia, growing on sandy clay flats and in heath on the sand plains along the coast north of Perth.
Description:A small to medium-sized, rounded or spreading shrub, usually up to 1.5m high. The leaves are grey-green to bright green, borne in two opposite rows, are crowded, ovate and about 5mm long. Tufted flower heads 30mm in diameter are usually bright red, but there are yellow and orange forms available from various nurseries.
Opinion: My plant is (or was!) the cultivar known as Razzle Dazzle, a form with grey-green leaves and bright red flowers. I say ‘was’ because the garden plant succumbed to the hot dry spell last summer and now only exists as cuttings awaiting relocation back into the ground at some future time. It was planted on the corner of the garage on the western side of the block and suffered some wind damage a few years back, which must have upset the root system as it has struggled ever since, up until its demise. Before being blown over, though, the plant grew reasonably quickly, achieving a metre in height over a couple of seasons and flowering regularly. The flowers are a beautiful bright red and very intricate with their tufts of stamens branched along their lenghts. The orange-yellow form, which we saw down at Allan Lacey’s garden at Sandy Point acouple of years ago, is perhaps not as striking visually, but is still a very pretty plant. According to the literature, it is difficult to grow on the humid east coast, but it seems to grow all right around here, so perhaps we are not defined as humid or east coast! Propagation is supposed to be easy from seed or cuttings: I can’t attest to the seed as my plant didn’t seem to set any, but the cuttings from my dying plant struck roots without too much help from me, so I suppose the statement is correct.

Sources: Wrigley &anp; Fagg- Bottlebrushes, Paperbarks & Tea Trees, etc.

Errinundra- October 19 to 22, 2007

The Explorers

Our trip to the Errinundra area went ahead without too many problems on the weekend of October 19 to 22, despite a couple of minor hiccups along the way. Here is a day by day diary of events;

Friday

Surprisingly, we (Peter and Sue, Cathy and I) were ready to head off by 9am. Perhaps it was because we were no longer taking our tent trailer, as Delma and Ray had called to say they weren’t able to come along and we were able to fill the beds in the cottage. A quick stop in Morwell for supplies and fuel and we were on our way. Lakes Entrance was our target for lunch, and a very nice lunch it was in a little café with attached antique shop, halfway along the main drag. It was blowing a gale all the way, but at least it was a tail wind. We arrived at Goongerah at about 2.30pm and eventually managed to track down our accommodation; Goongerah consists of roughly a dozen residences/farms spread out along about 10km of road! Sue asked what the pretty red flowers were that she had seen in the gullies along the very winding road, but Cathy and I had not seen them and could only guess their identity. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent settling in to the eco-cottage, working out how to use the various facilities, such as the dry composting dunny, the cranky wood stove, the chip-heater hot water service and the solar lighting system. We also got to meet some of the resident beasties; a couple of massive Clydesdales, a couple of standoffish alpacas, a herd of goats, one with a playful kid in tow and a flock of geese. We did go for a short walk over to the Goongerah campground, site of the famous Thunderbox, but also of some very nice, well set up camping sites. Unfortunately, the other thing we found was a young King Parrot that couldn’t fly and seemed to be a little worse for wear. We captured him in my jacket and took him back to the cottage where we parked him in the shrubbery until we could find some better accommodation for him. We introduced ourselves to our host, Jill, by asking whether she had a suitable cage to house the parrot and a wildlife carer in the district to which we could refer him, receiving a positive response to both queries.

Saturday

Gippsland Waratah

Golden Tips

The sun was up and the local birds making a racket at about 5.30am. We toughed it out as long as we could, but were all up by 7am and fed and watered by 8am. Next on the agenda was to wait for John and Susan to arrive from Orbost, assuming they had made it that far last night. In the meantime Jill, along with the local wildlife carer Joe, wandered back across the paddock with cage in hand to attempt to find some adult King Parrots that might like to resume parentage of junior. Peter and Sue had forgotten to pack their toiletries, so Peter decided to head for Bonang 20km up the road to see if the local store had some items to purchase. John and Susan arrived about 10am, a few minutes before Peter’s return and just as Joe gave up on finding some King Parrots and decided to take the youngster back to his aviary and force feed some nourishment into it. A quick cup of reviver and we were ready to head for the wilds of Errinundra Plateau. Up the Bonang Highway we went, which soon turned to dirt, turned right onto the Bendoc Road, then right again onto the Gunmark Road. At this intersection an echidna was busily hunting for ants, but Sue distracted us on the CB radio by asking what the red flowers were just back from the corner. My excuse was ‘I’m driving’, but Cathy had no explanation for being blind as we had just driven past another patch of Gippsland Waratah. Onwards we went, stopping briefly at Tea Tree Flat Picnic Ground before continuing on to Goonmirk Rocks. The track was closed for the winter period, so we had to walk the kilometre to the rocks, which were a great disappointment in being thoroughly unspectacular. The vegetation was impressive though, with some stately Shining Gums over the top of Alpine Peppers, Forest Lomatia, Victorian Christmas Bush, Forest Geebung, Mountain Beard-heath and the odd Waratah. We didn’t notice any of the small tree versions of Mountain Plum Pine (usually a prostrate shrub in the alps) that were supposed to be in the area, but they wouldn’t have been flowering yet, anyway. Pity about all the logging scars and scalds (nothing but wall to wall Silver Wattles, as the Eucalypt and understorey seeds were destroyed by the regeneration burns) right up to the boundary of the NP, but will we ever see the end of such practices? Next stop was the Errinundra Saddle Rainforest Walk, where we enjoyed our picnic lunch, followed by a trundle around the 20 minute walk which took us an hour. More massive Shining Gums, with Sassafras, Muttonwood and Black Olive-berry over the top of an array of ferns, such as Soft Tree Ferns, Hard Water Fern and Mother Shield Fern. The pressure was on, as we still had a fair distance to travel and needed to be back at a reasonable hour to get our camp oven roast dinner under way. We had to bypass a couple of other walking tracks at Mt Morris Rainforest and Mt Ellery, but we did stop at the Ocean View Lookout to view the brown haze to our south and couldn’t resist brief pauses at various locations when some colourful flowers caught our eye. The brilliant yellow of Golden-tip, the vivid purples of Austral Indigo and Black-eyed Susan, the blinding whites of Clematis and Daisy Bush and the blazing reds of the Waratahs and Dusky Coral Peas all conspired to slow us down. We got back to the cottage about 5.30pm and immediately set to lighting fires for hot water and camp oven coals, prepared our meals, set up tents, had a scrub down and settled in with a beer and a bottle or 6 of red to wait for dinner to arrive. ‘Twas worth the wait, as it went down well for everyone except Peter, who took a turn for the worse and called it an early night about 9.30pm. Cathy and I lasted until 10.30pm and thinking we were all about to head off for bed, we dismantled the fire. We only found out next morning that Susan lasted another hour, but John and Sue maintained the rage until 1am!

Sunday

Ambyne Suspension Bridge

Mc Killops Bridge

A very balmy morning greeted us as we surfaced around 7am. Peter was still feeling a bit off colour after an early morning conversation with a nearby fence post. The flies became a bit too friendly as we enjoyed a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast and Peter decided he would be better off foregoing our activities for the day and headed back to bed. John and Susan were a bit concerned with their fuel supply as their vehicle decided it wouldn’t run on petrol, only gas, so the decision was made to accompany Sue in the Prado for the day. We headed off up the Bonang Highway again, this time heading for Bonang itself, a pretty, green, well grassed valley about 20km to the north west of Goongerah. The local store still wasn’t open, so we took a left and continued along the Tubbut-Deddieck-Gelantipy Road aiming for McKillops Bridge. The only stop we made was for large and angry Lace Monitor, which took great offence to the indignity of having to climb a tree when we approached for a closer look. The closer we got to the Snowy River, the drier it became and the more stunted the vegetation became. Some spectacular scenery as the road cut its way through the Deddick River Gorge was spoilt by the mess of weeds (dead willows, blackberries, Paterson’s Curse, various thistles and other nasties) close to the river and in nearby cleared areas. Arriving at McKillops at around 11.30am, it was damned hot, but we persevered with a walk down to the Snowy-Deddick junction and then out onto the bridge itself. A very impressive structure, it is hard to imagine that flood water levels have lapped at the top of the main trestles on more than one occasion! The heat, at least 35 degrees, was taking its toll, especially on those who had played up last night. Even a pleasant lunch in the shade of the picnic shelter with a nice breeze blowing through wasn’t enough to inspire us for more than a cursory glance around the area. Our plan to take our time driving back, stopping when a bit of interesting vegetation caught our eye, went by the wayside a bit, as getting out of the air-conditioned vehicles was not in the least appealing. We did force ourselves to look at some everlasting daisies, Slender (Weeping) Boobialla, a patch of Fringe Myrtle, a Cassia and the Ambyne Suspension Bridge, but in effect we went straight back to Bonang where it was considerably more comfortable in the rainforests along the streams. Peter was looking much happier when we returned to the cottage, having rested until early afternoon and then parking himself in the shade and reading a book until our return. John and Susan commenced their packing up in readiness for their drive home, while Cathy and I headed to the river for a much anticipated swim/bath. The water proved much too cool (much cooler than the Snowy!) for more than an ankle deep splash and only I was foolish enough to go in that far; Cathy opted for a warm shower back at the cottage. John and Susan had departed, Peter and Sue were taking it easy, a siesta was in order until it was time to think about a bbq dinner. More nibblies, a red or 3, even a snifter of port and we were ready for the sack at the reasonable hour of 10.30pm.

Monday

Golden Paper Daisy

We ignored the birds and the sunlight for an extra hour, not arising until 8am. It was still uncomfortably warm, the radio reporting that it didn’t drop below 25 degrees in Orbost overnight. A quick breakfast of whatever needed to be eaten and we commenced packing all our gear away. Jill came over for a chat, so we asked for a guided tour of the property and a look at her eco-friendly power and water supplies. We parted company about 10am, intending to find Joe and check up on the condition of the young king Parrot, but we weren’t sure if we were in the right place and couldn’t find anybody to ask, so we commenced our trip home. We stopped at a few likely looking places on the Bonang Highway, saw a couple of common orchids, a few more Waratah groves, some nice Golden Paper Daisies, but not much to write home about. We paused at Young’s Creek Waterfall, just out of Orbost, for lunch and a stroll with the Water Dragons, then headed down the main drag with purpose. The drizzle set in somewhere between Bairnsdale and Stratford, but we made only one stop for fuel in Sale before reaching home at 5.30pm. There ends another field trip!