Newsletter September 2008

Next Meeting

General meeting, bring your ideas or suggestions for next year's calendar on what you would like to do or see.

Date: Thursday September 11, 2008
Time: 7:30 pm
Venue: Horticultural Building at Morwell TAFE adjacent to Kernot Hall.

Leaders' Reports

Leader - Wayne Wilkinson

As your new Leader, I would like to thank our Vice-Leader, Cathy, for the great job she has done in stepping in when needed and for agreeing to stay on as Vice-Leader, Thank you Cathy.

Marg & I would like to put in our apology for Thursday 11th September as we will not be at the meeting as Will, our grandson, has his school concert on so we will be in Melbourne for that.

One idea for everyone to think about is a Photo Comp, best photo of our Logo Grevillea chrysophaea. This photo could then be used on the front page of our newsletter. More details on this will be discussed at a later date, watch this space.

We have a very busy month ahead, Wilson Park Plant Sales at Berwick on Sat 8th & Sun 9th Sept then with our general meeting ‘Calendar Ideas’ on Thursday 11th Sept, ‘Orchid Fossick’ on Saturday 13th Sept and our Garden visits on Saturday 20th Sept.

A thank you must go to Richard Wiseman for taking over the Secretary’s job and a warm welcome to new members Richard & Maria Wiseman, Val Forsyth and Denis Nagle.

Congratulations go to Mary Jackson on her 50th Birthday and also to Diane & Harold on their new baby grand daughter.

Looking forward to seeing you at any of our gatherings this month, from Wayne Wilkinson.

New Leader's Wife Report: Could it be ‘Spring’ Madness!!

On Wednesday (3rd Sept) morning about 10am as I am just getting ready to head into Moe to take my mum shopping and pay some bills, I heard a tractor start up. I think ‘that’s strange because he had gone off in the Ute, why’s the tractor going?’ As quick as possible I wiz down to the kitchen to see our tractor stop up on the driveway above the house, no sign of the Ute. I open the door and ask HIM ‘Where’s the Ute?’ and the reply I get is ‘It’s stuck!’ I said ‘It’s What!?’ He said ‘It’s stuck in the paddock.’ ‘OH!’ I said. ‘You need some help.’ So I quickly dash back into the bedroom and put on farm clothes and go out to drive the tractor down into the front house paddock. I ask. ‘Why’s the Ute down here when I thought you were harrowing the middle paddocks.’ (I’m thinking they are flatter and drier).’ He said ‘No, I thought I would harrow the two bottom paddocks so I could lock them up for hay.’

There is the poor Ute stuck near the bottom of the hill, and I mean stuck by four wheels. So he attaches the harrows to the tractor and I pull them out of the way, then back around to pull the Ute out of its four holes (I must remind him to go and fill them in too). He backs the Ute back down onto the flat ground then we pick up the harrows with the forks and then I drive the Ute back up and He drives the tractor back up and puts the harrows away. I remind Wayne that with all the RAIN we had had that those two paddocks always are the last to dry out and that was one of the reasons he had locked the cows out of them. So the cows wouldn’t BOG UP the paddocks so much. Right above where he has tried to go up the hill is the shed and Tank, so this area is always wetter because of the run off from the shed. It was only when I was telling mum what had made me late that I realised I hadn’t even gotten a photo and I had my phone with me at the time too, dam!

Vice-Leader - Cathy Beamish

This year the leaders report is coming from the vice-leader. It is with regret that I announce that John Stephens’ father unexpectedly passed away last Sunday after sustaining a fall. As one would expect, John has been pre-occupied this week with family matters. On behalf of APS LV, I would like to extend our sympathy and best wishes to John, Susan and their family.

APS LV has had an eventful twelve months, but I didn’t appreciate how much had happened until I went back through the old newsletters. For starters, we have had a variety of guest speakers. We had Robert Brown speak on Grevilleas and followed this up with a visit to his garden; Tania Brooker spoke on local grasses and David McPhee on getting more out of your digital camera. A few of our members also gave talks, such as Ken Harris on the Galapagos Islands, Colin Jackson on their trip to the Canning Stock Route and Warren Simpson on orchid identification as well as another on lichens and mosses. All were very different and very interesting.

Then there were the excursions. In October a few of us went to the Errinundra Plateau. This turned out to be a great trip as we saw hundreds of specimens of the Gippsland Waratah, which was our main reason for going. We had great accommodation in Jill Redwood’s cottage at Goongerah and were kept amused by her menagerie. The heat was bit much at McKillop’s Bridge, but the goanna we scared off the road seem to be appreciating it! October and November also saw field trips to the burnt areas of Moondarra looking for orchids. Warren and Carolyn were able to lead us to areas that contained a great variety of different orchids. The day was so successful that a second field trip was organized for a month later! Thank you to Warren and Carolyn.

Next was our Christmas break-up to the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens. This was a good day out with a walk around the Australia Garden (which could have been twice as long) followed by a BBQ lunch in the botanical gardens (complete with pesky flies!). Thanks must go to Wayne for driving us safely there and back and to Marg for organizing the bus and the brain teasers on the way home!

In April we had a weekend in Inverloch, thanks to the hospitality of the Chambers and Ingrams. It was great to see such a large turnout of members and this combined with good food, great company, an amazing nursery, a wonderful native garden and ‘spekky’ (spectacular) scenery, all made for an excellent weekend. (The red wine was good too. Editor’s note.).

Another thing that happened during the year was our participation in the Churchill Festival, in conjunction with the Friends of Morwell National Park. Our stand looked great due to our very new banner. Our thanks go to Colin Jackson and Carolyn Simpson for organizing the banner.

A night that stands out for me was the fun we had at the trivia night that John and Susan organized for us. It turned out to be a very enjoyable evening and I sincerely hope that we can talk them into organizing another one!

Before I finish up I would like to thank the hard working members of our group. Firstly, I would like to thank John being leader for the last 2 years. I know he was a reluctant new leader but I think he did a great job and I enjoyed reading his monthly article in the newsletter and was jealous of all his trips away! I also think an excursion to the Stephen’s garden might be a worthwhile trip this year, judging by the wonderful photos that John has taken!

Marg also deserves many thanks for the work she puts into producing the monthly newsletter, as do the members who write articles for everyone to read. The coloured pics in the newsletter look great and those members who receive it via mail can now appreciate how good it looks thanks to John purchasing a new colour printer on behalf of the group. Thanks to Colin for providing the great raffle plants every month and thanks to Mark for all his work in setting up our website.

A Huge thank you goes to Brian for the great job he has done in maintaining the Treasurer’s position and with keeping our accounts balanced, well done Brian.

Then there is Mike, what would we (or me in particular) do without him? He does all the secretary stuff, has recently taken on the treasury duties, writes a monthly ‘In my garden’ article for the newsletter and has spent masses of time processing hundreds of payments from Victorian members. Oh, and don’t forget he keeps me in line when it comes to all the paperwork! Thanks Mike, your efforts are greatly appreciated!

I would also like to welcome again our new members and hope that we are able to encourage more over the next twelve months. Lastly, I would like to thank all our members for regularly attending meetings and participating in excursions, as without all of you we wouldn’t be as successful as we are.

Annual General Meeting

Held at Morwell TAFE Horticultural Buildings Thursday, August 14, 2008, 7.55pm
Attendance: Mike & Cathy Beamish, Wayne & Marg Wilkinson, Alan & Doris Chambers, Warren & Carolyn Simpson, Richard & Maria Wiseman, Harold Aumann, Valerie Forsyth, Denis Nagle.
Apologies: John & Susan Stephens, Colin & Mary Jackson, Brian & Marilyn Ingram, Peter & Wendy Cox, Ray & Delma Hodges, Kate Richardson, Jill Fidler.
Confirmation of previous AGM minutes: Minutes of previous AGM of 9/8/07 were read.
Motion: to accept the minutes of the previous AGM. (Moved: Marg Wilkinson, Sec: Wayne Wilkinson, carried)
Business arising from previous AGM:
1.The Newsletter now carries regular coloured sections and a colour laser printer has been purchased to allow printing of the newsletter for those members without or with limited email access. No progress on gaining more articles or reports for the newsletter.
2.The trip to RBG Cranbourne was very well organized and attended, thanks to all for their input and participation.

Correspondence:
In:
Email- RBG Cranbourne Lecture Series 2007 advice.
APS Yarra Yarra- Flower Show advice.
APS Keilor Plains- roster for Gardening Australia Expo.
Flyer- Plants of Capricornia book.
Email- Your Water Your Say Action Group re desalination plant.
Email- Agenda for COM meeting 15/9/07.
Friends of RBG Cranbourne- re AGM.
Email- Viridans re Wild Plants of Victoria CD.
Email- Minutes APS Vic AGM & COM meeting 10/11/07.
Email- Agenda for COM meeting March 2008.
Email- Minutes for COM Meeting March 2008.
Email- Agenda for COM meeting June 2008.
Email- Alan Page re APS LV website & Pseudanthus pimeleoides.
John Facey- Seed Bank Information for new members.
Email- Minutes for COM meeting June 2008.
Out:
Office of Premier- re desalination plant.
Email- Your Water Your Say Action Group reply.
Email- APS Vic Secretary re APS LV Quarterly Report.

Business arising from Correspondence: Nil.

Reports: Leader’s Report:
Treasurer’s Report for the period 1/7/07 to 30/6/08 was tabled by Mike Beamish on behalf of Brian Ingram. Balance at 30/6/07 was $2176.72. Ledger balance at 30/6/08 was $1682.00.
Motion: to accept the Treasurer’s Report. (Moved: Warren Simpson, Sec: Harold Aumann, carried)

Election of Office Bearers:
The Vice Leader declared all positions vacant and handed the chair to Warren Simpson for the election. No nominations were received prior to the meeting, all nominations were received from the floor unopposed.
Leader: Wayne Wilkinson (nom. Warren Simpson, sec. Maria Wiseman, carried)
Vice-Leader: Cathy Beamish (nom. Wayne Wilkinson, sec. Richard Wiseman, carried)
Secretary: Richard Wiseman (nom. Cathy Beamish, sec. Marg Wilkinson, carried)
Treasurer: Mike Beamish (nom. Marg Wilkinson, sec. Harold Aumann, carried)
Editor: Marg Wilkinson (nom. Warren Simpson, sec. Cathy Beamish, carried)
Librarian: Delma Hodges To be confirmed upon acceptance.
Public Officer: Mike Beamish (nom. Wayne Wilkinson, sec. Cathy Beamish, carried)
Publicity: Mark Watkins To be confirmed upon acceptance.
General Business:
1.Motion: Our regular monthly Thursday night meetings held at the Morwell TAFE Horticultural Buildings are at least attended by the Committee, regardless of whether a speaker or activity has been arranged for the evening.
Moved: Mike Beamish, Sec. Cathy Beamish, carried.
2.Motion: APS LV to join Study Groups (as a group member) as nominated by and of particular interest to a majority of members, so that all members can have access to the Study Group benefits without the financial burden of individual subscription.
Moved: Mike Beamish, Sec. Warren Simpson, carried.
Mike Beamish will do some research into the Study Groups to determine which can accommodate our intentions and the cost of doing so.

Meeting closed: 8.45pm.

GARDEN VISIT

We were very lucky with the weather for the visit to our garden, Wayne and I were sooo… pleased to see so many group members turn up. The feed-back to us has been great. Though one member had wished he had come with his wife instead of freezing his but-off trying to get a birds-eye view of the country side. (Maybe you should wait for the warmer weather, Col).

As you can see we had a dilemma in the identification of one of our Grevilleas!! After much deliberation Wayne and I, both agreed it looks like Grevillea pimeleoides from the description in Marriott & Olde’s Grevillea Books, the book also states that pimeleoides can be mistaken for Grevillea drummondii. Many thanks too Cathy, Mike and Ken for identifying these plants for us.

After afternoon tea we had an impromptu-ed meeting, our main discussion was about the group’s Oct Geelong weekend trip, more details to come.

Then just to show members what our new printer is like, I printed a couple of photo’s off and passed them around, much to the surprise of one of our members (this is another reason why you should have kept two feet on the ground, Col, on such a cold winters day). Bev Hooper had emailed them to me ages ago, thanks Bev.

I’m just waiting for Wayne to give me a list of plants that were flowering at the time of the groups visit, ‘This and That’ will not do, Wayne!! Ah, here is the list of some of the plants that were flowering that day.

Alyogyne huegelli – purple (this is one of my favorite plants), Banksia Giant Candles, Banksia praemorsa – yellow, Grevillea endlicheriana, G. Billy Bonkers, G. Carpet Queen, G. jenkinsii, G. baueri, G. poorinda rondeau, G. tetragonoloba, G. lanigera Mt Tamberitha, G. Ellendale, Correa purchella Pink Mist, Correa Little Cate, Hakea Burrendong Beauty, Hypocalymma xanthoptelum, Isopogon formosus, Leptospermum scoparium, Zieria prostrata.

Anytime anyone would like to take cuttings just give us a ring and we will organize a time to do so with you.

Within a few days of the group visiting our garden, we put 4mts of eucy mulch on the small garden bed at the front of the house and part of the larger bed too. Some of the newer plants up the far bottom end below the shed bank were also mulched; it’s amazing how much better looking the garden is now, though it will all slowly be mulched. I can see that by the time we get it all done we’ll have to start again!

Wayne & I would like to thank everyone for such a great day.

Wilkinson's Garden Plants

These photos were taken on the 31/05/2008 of Correa pulchella and Correa reflexa split correa. The split correa didn’t survive the strong winds that we have had over winter but lucky enough Wayne had taken plenty of cuttings of it and they are all doing well and he has even put a new plant back in that same spot. The Correa pulchella is still doing well thank goodness.