Leaders Report

Around the Garden

Susan and I were disappointed to have missed the Inverloch weekend and look forward to hearing about the trip from members. I am sure it was a fantastic adventure for those who participated. I do hear a whisper that a report may form part of this newsletter.

As I write the weather has changed for the better, it has been raining! It has been so dry over the last couple of months that the garden has continued to suffer. Another two or three plants have succumbed to the big dry and a Grevillea is just hanging on – some of it dead while part of it remains a brown shade of green. The garden is always changing and we have recently filled some spaces, mainly with plants I have propagated. Gee I feel like a professional! Hopefully in the very near future we will have a shade house with an automated watering system to produce even more of our own plants. We are both excited by this new development.

Hakea Laurina

Treated Pine Edging

As always there are plants flowering in the garden. The grevilleas continue to provide colour, it seems like they never cease to flower. And the Correas are also doing well and are almost all flowering at present with an amazing variety of flower shapes, sizes and colours. I was successful in propagating some “samples” taken on our visit to Heyfield and while they are not flowering as yet I cannot wait to see exactly what they look like as I cannot remember! The Correas have proven to be quite drought tolerant and are worthy of consideration in any garden. A number of Hakeas are also in flower, including two of my favourites – Hakea laurina and “Burrendong Beauty”. Many of the Banksias are out and have been flowering for quite some time.

On a recent visit to Melbourne we called into Karanga Nursery at Montrose. I never cease to be amazed at the variety and number of plants available to those growing only Australian plants. We have been contemplating using a Pandorea pandorana or “Wonga Wonga vine” as a screening plant in a section of the garden. There were several different choices, white with a mauve opening, white with mauve spots, a yellow variety, a cream variety and more (jasminoides, “Golden Showers”, ”Snow Bells” etc. and variations of each! And there were also differing foliages. In fact there were too many choices and we came home without purchasing one. Needless to say we were able to find some other plants to spend our money on and now have to find some more spaces. I remember the seventies and there were some nice plants to choose from however nothing approaching the choice we have now.

I often hear and read of those very clever people that “plan” their gardens and manage to have the garden turn out “just as I planned”. I am amused when I hear this as I find it hard to believe that what eventuates is strictly to plan. Sure it is essential to have some basic idea how an area is going to be set out, as Susan and I did. The Cranbourne Gardens may be close to what was planned, however I believe that what happens after the initial stage is increasingly reliant on the whims of nature and the ideas that develop as the garden progresses.

Our basic plan changed and evolved as time went on. I was constantly looking at how things developed and the conditions of the area in which I was working. For instance I set out raised garden beds in areas of the back yard where the “lawn” refused to grow. I followed the shape of the bare patches with the beds and I am currently constructing gravel paths in between those beds. Since the initial arrangement of the gardens I have added more soil in selected areas to extend the beds to accommodate the shape of the plants and to make the shape more aesthetically appealing.

Another example was the edging of these beds. I had problems with birds scattering the mulch and decided to use some spare treated pine logs to contain the mulch. I placed several logs along the edge of one path as a temporary measure. The “boss” liked the effect and as we had about fifty posts without a specific purpose I used them to continue the theme to great effect.

Also plants for one reason or another either love where they are planted or “turn up their toes” and are replaced with another species that may be more suitable. Part of the beauty of the garden is that it is ever changing and I really would not have it any other way and I am sure those who have not seen our garden recently would be in for a surprise.

I hope members are looking after the seed collected for our grafting experiments later in the year. Thanks to Roland my supply of seeds has been boosted so we should not run short.

John Stevens

Correa

Correa

Correa

Correa

Plants in My Garden

By Mike Beamish

Lambertia
formosa

Species: Lambertia formosa
Family:Proteaceae
Derivation:

Lambertia: Named after Aylmer Bourke Lambert (1761-1842), an English botanist, who wrote The Genus Pinus, published between 1803 and 1814.

formosa: From the Latin, formosus, meaning beautiful, referring to the flowers.

Common Name: Mountain Devil, Honey Flower, Honeysuckle
Distribution: Found in heath and dry sclerophyll forest, usually on sandy soils, along the coast and ranges in NSW, from about Grafton in the north to Eden in the south.
Description:An erect, bushy shrub 2 to 3 metres high by 2 metres across, usually with a number of stems arising from a lignotuber. Dark green, broadly linear leaves are up to 50mm long, shiny and with a network of small veins on top, hairy on the underside, with a prominent mid-rib and ending in a sharp point. Bright red, tubular flowers about 50mm long are borne terminally in groups of seven throughout the year and are surrounded by bright pink to green bracts which are as long as the flowers and often bend back from about half their length to frame the flowers. Fruits are a woody follicle, roughly triangular in shape, with an upturned beak and a prominent horn on each valve, and resembles the head of a creature, giving rise to one of its common names.
Opinion: This plant must be pretty tough, as it is one of the originals planted in the northern bed and has survived many years of deprivation, starting life underneath the long gone Liquidambar, then the subsequent Cedar Wattle and now still fighting for space amongst Dusty Daisy-bush, Golden Tip and rampant Swan River Pea. Once I removed the overgrowing offenders, the plant has doubled in size and tends to flower much more regularly, although there is usually a flower on it at any time I care to look. The literature recommends a well-drained, sunny position, which seems to be backed up by its performance over the years, no doubt improving with more light. I wouldn’t call my soils well-drained though, but the little bit of mounding and the nearby trees continually pulling water out of the ground probably have the same effect.
Propagation is easy from both cuttings and seed, although good flowering specimens should be propagated from cuttings to maintain the characteristic. Seed-grown plants may not retain the characters of the parent! The woody capsules are decorative in their own right and it is very obvious where the common name comes from. If you want seed, just treat the capsules like a Hakea, sit them in a container in a warm, dry position and they will split apart to release a couple of seeds. Plant them in your favourite mix and they’ll germinate in a couple of weeks.

Sources: Wrigley & Fagg- Australian Native Plants, 5th Edition.
Grieg- The Australian Gardener’s Wildflower Catalogue.

Visit to Inverloch — April 11-1

Saturday morning was overcast and a bit cool. With rain forecast, it didn’t bode well for the weekend. Mike and I left home early to meet up with everyone at the Railway Park in Boolarra. Much to my surprise, Harold, Diane, Kate, Doris & Alan were already there, as was a very impressive looking Winnebago that a few of us drooled over! The lucky owner had come from Werribee to attend a party at a friend’s place.

Alan, Doris, Kate, Harold, Diane, Delma & Ray all left Boolarra soon after 9am to avoid there being too many cars in the convoy. We stayed behind with Colin and Mary to wait for Wayne and Marg, as they were running a bit late due to Wayne having just finished night shift. Mary made good use of the time by chatting with the owner of the Winnebago about his family history.

We arrived at Rob O’Sullivan’s nursery around 10.30am, but we were unable to find the others! A lot of discussion and a few phone calls later saw Colin about to go back to Fish Creek to look for them, as he thought he had seen one of their cars in town when we went through. Luckily we saw them all drive past the nursery before Colin left.

Once we had all gathered together, Rob showed us around his wonderful garden. The big mounds of sand and dirt provide a great setting for all of his native plants. Once we had finished in the garden we headed around to the nursery. Rob is a wholesaler, but he had happily agreed to us driving over to have another look at his nursery as it had expanded a lot since we were last there. I thought that the set up of the nursery was excellent. There were about a dozen great big tables all covered in plants at various stages of growth. There were also 4 big igloos full of plants and 2 more about to be built. Rob told us that there were around 80,000 plants in the nursery!

Everyone enjoyed wandering around choosing the plants that they would buy as there was such a large variety to pick from. As to be expected, Colin and Mike bought the most with the Wilkinson’s not far behind! Once everyone had run out of arms to carry their plants in, (well, Rob did offer to put the plants into trays allowing some people to pick up more plants!) we headed back to the shed so that tags could be put into the pots and payment could be made. As we were heading back Mark arrived. He had called us before we left to say that he would meet us at the nursery.

At 12.30pm I decided that the hunger pains that I had needed some attention and as I wasn’t the only one with the problem, we decided to plonk ourselves on the ground in the shade at the nursery to have lunch. After lunch we all wondered across the road to Alan Lacey’s place to check out the progress of his garden. We had been there a few years ago and it was impressive then. I am pleased to say that it was still very impressive with the plants having grown bigger in the intervening years. Alan wondered around his garden with us, identifying plants, answering questions and taking cuttings for those that wanted them. As a thank you to Alan for his hospitality, Colin and Mary presented Alan with a bottle of red. This was a great idea of Mary’s and we all thought it was a very appropriate gesture. Thanks Mary!

Once we left Alan’s place, we went back to our cars and then headed for Leongatha with Colin leading the way. For some reason Colin hesitated at the Waratah Bay turnoff and as Alan was behind him, he decided that we should be going that way, so like the good little sheep that we were, we all followed him. Now, as most of us know, the road into Waratah Bay is a no-through road, but the trip in and out provided a nice little diversion and great amusement. Thanks Alan!

Once back on the main road again we made it safely into Inverloch. Colin and Mary had turned off for Venus Bay as Colin was going to check the possibility of flying his hang glider, which in the end he didn’t use it as the weather conditions weren’t appropriate.

Saturday evening saw us taking a pleasant stroll down to the water to check out the view. The tide was very high and crashing over the stone wall. Once back at the Chambers house, we put together some nibblies and opened a few bottles of red for those that wanted to indulge. Tea followed later and consisted of soup, stews, veges and other lovely concoctions that people had brought along for everyone to share. A very pleasant evening was spent chatting away and at one stage, Alan provided entertainment by playing some old favorites on the piano.

Sunday saw us checking out the Ingram’s garden before car pooling to head off for a walk on the rock pools. The rain chose that particular moment to arrive, so our meandering along the rocks became a little damp, but it didn’t stop us from continuing on to the caves. The rain eventually eased and allowed us to comfortably check out the rock pools before heading back to the cars to move on to Eagles Nest for a look. Once we left there it was back to the house for leftovers and fresh bread rolls for lunch. We spent the next couple of hours relaxing and enjoying some more good conversation. People started leaving around 3pm. A lovely relaxing weekend was had by all and our sincere thanks go to the Chamber’s and Ingram’s for their very generous hospitality once again.