next meeting coming up grampians newsletter mar 19.… · wellbeing of wildlife in your local...

Australian Plants Society Grampians Newsletter 1

NEXT MEETINGTuesday 19th March 2019

7:30 Pomonal HallLandscaping for Wildlife Talk by Neil Marriott

March 2019

From the CommitteeA Committee meeting was held early March. Because the March 19th meeting will be so busyit is proposed that the following discussion items be put to the members at the April 16thmeeting: • A review of 2019 program: the AGM in July, visit to Melton Botanic garden on Saturday

19th October instead of Tuesday 15th. • Donation to be made to the Halls Gap Botanical Gardens. • Propagating dates to be discussed with members • Update on the Flower Show ideas. • Trips away proposed are: Visit to Mount Annan, Australian Botanic Gardens in Canberra

and the APS NSW Gathering in Newcastle in August • Visit Warrnambool area in November • ‘Gardens for Wildlife’ project for our group to develop.

Garden visit to Neil and Wendy’s on Saturday 23rd March. Time to be confirmed at themeeting on 19th.Possible options are pre lunch walk followed by BYO lunch or an evening walk followed byBYO barbecue.

Working bee to held on Saturday 30th March at the Pomonal Hall from 9-12. Morning teaprovided.Jobs include, cleaning up the gardens at the Pomonal Hall and Jane’s Garden. Mainly weedingand pruning. Some planting may be possible at the Hall in damper areas. Bring all the tools youneed for your preferred tasks.

Next MeetingThere are two reasons not to miss this meeting. Apart from what will surely be an excellentpresentation from Neil introducing our theme for this year’s show (see article p2 -3) it will beyour chance to farewell the Handscombes, as this will be their final meeting before leaving thearea.

Coming Up


Gardening for WildlifeNeil Marriott

When we think of attracting wildlife to our gardens we generally think of our beautiful native birds. Butthere is just so much more wildlife we can and should attract to make our garden a rich habitat fornature. There are lots of native frogs, lizards, geckoes and other reptiles and amphibians, many ofwhich will thrive and become a wonderful part of our gardens. Our native warm blooded animals suchas possums, gliders, antechinus, and echidnas are all mostly a delight to have in our gardens, and withthe right choice of plants and nesting sites many will become permanent residents.

Then there are the absolutely wonderful profusion ofnative invertebrates: our beetles, butterflies, wasps,flies, bees, spiders and so many more members of theinsect world. Many of these, as Denis Crawford hasshown us, are vital for keeping the ‘bad guys’ of theinsect world under control. Biological control of ourgarden pests can mean we don’t need to use thosenasty chemical poisons! The native bees, moths,butterflies and wasps are vital for the successfulpollination of many of our garden plants, and they add

so much to make our gardens a vital and living place for us to relax in. The distinct buzzing of our BlueBanded Bees is such a lovely sound in the garden as they zip from flower to flower! There are four essential elements needed to attract wildlife to our gardens, and hopefully to stay for awhile or maybe become permanent residents. These are:1. Food2. Water3. Shelter4. Nesting sites

Various groups of birds such as honeyeaters, finches, wrens, parrots etc all need different food plants.

Golden Whistler a most beautiful and commonbird in our garden

Jacky Lizard a lovely small reptile that loves cat freegardens

Sugar Gliders in one of our nest boxes


This is also the case for our native animals and nativeinsects. A healthy and biodiverse garden has areas ofall of these plants, in varying proportions depending onthe particular animals you are most keen to invite intoyour little world. This is where the home gardener canhave a huge positive impact on the health andwellbeing of wildlife in your local community.

Essential for all forms of wildlife is water, and this needs to be provided in your garden in as many waysas possible; deep ponds, shallow pools, bowls on the ground, bowls up above the ground, even runningwater if possible to attract as large a range of native birds and animals as possible.

We all need shelter, and all our wildlife needs protection to survive the extremes of heat, cold, rain andfrost. A large range of plants, rocks, hollow logs, leaf litter and fallen branches will provide good shelterfor most of our wildlife.

Finally, thedifferent groupsof birds,possums, batsand insects allneed differingplants,groundcovers,thickets ofgrasses andrushes, nestboxes and openbare soil to beable to nestsuccessfully andraise young inyour garden. Toattract our wildlife

and then establish a permanent stable population this is the essentialfinal element in gardening for wildlife.

Beautiful native wasp feeding on Grevilleaalbiflora nectar

A rich and diverse garden for many forms of native wildlife

As well as water for drinking, birds need clean water forbathing in

Sugar Glider nest box


Growing Blandfordia grandiflora, NSW Christmas Bells

In early December we purchased a Blandfordia grandiflora, something we have never grownbefore. This plant was in a 145mm pot at Kuranga, so we lashedout and purchased one plant. Once it arrived in Stawell it wasplaced into a 200mm clay pot with a saucer underneath, I readWrigley & Fagg and carefully chose the spot to best suit them, theplant loved its new home and within a few weeks we noticed aflower spike appearing. This took about 3 weeks to come into fullbloom, to our pleasant surprise the flower was not the usual redwith yellow tips, but yellow with green edging. The flowers lastedabout three weeks but have now gone to seed, and they will bepicked when they ripen.

We were in Melbourne on the weekend of Feb 22-23, andpurchased two more Christmas Bells, this time with flowers whichwere red, but also going to seed, so hopefully we will have the twodifferent colours next year.

I have found an article on the NSW Ag. site givinginformation on growing these plants, their growingconditions, propagation etc.

The new ones I will place into hydroponic pots to seehow well they do here.

Has anybody else tried growing these plants? Werethey successful? The AG notes mentionedpropagation by division but I guess the plants willneed to grow a lot before that could happen.

I also bought a packet of seed of the Tasmanian variety so they will be planted soon, but itseems they will take three years to flower.

Kevin

Library BooksBecause the library is so seldom used, Linda has suggested that we keep just a few referencebooks and valuable items and dispose of the rest. What do you think? Have you used thelibrary? Do you know what is in it?It has been slowly built up over the years and should be a splendid resource, but if it’s not beingused it serves no purpose. Possible options are to raffle or sell books, or let people selectbooks they like. Think about it and we will discuss it at the April meeting. If you get the chancebefore then, have a look and see what’s there.Phil

Summer Survivors (or Not)We’ve all managed to survive the hottest, dryest summer ever, but what about our gardens? Nodoubt everyone will have had some disappointing losses, but also surprise survivors. Pleasesend a few words or pictures about how your garden fared and we’ll include them in the nextnewsletter. If enough people respond it could be a useful resource for the group.Here are two to get the ball rolling:

Peter:We found most plants that were planted in autumn have coped better than those planted inspring. There seemed to be time for the plants to get established before the summer heat set in.Plants that survived heat and dryness were Hakeas, Acacias, coastal rosemary (Westringia)and Correas. Our Kangaroo paws have suffered and some older Banksias.Kangaroos and deer were frequent visitors for water from bird baths and for fresh growth onHardenbergia, Pandorea and Hakea plants. Fauna suffer also in dry conditions.

Phil:I’ve had quite a few deaths, but the saddest have been those that have died even though theywere the ones I was watering regularly, for example Boronias. Most of the garden got notwatering at all and it’s been interesting to how different plants have coped, from total death toperfect health and something in between!


Dryandra shanklandiorum Complete and sudden death

Petrophile biloba Two adjacent identicalplants one survived, the other didn’t

Dwarf Banksia ericifolia. Some brancheshave died but the rest look healthy

Beaufortia megacephala. Totallyunaffected, bright green and flowering.


Remember this is your newsletter and it will only be as good as the articles that you put in it.Thanks to Kevin, Andrea, Pete, Neil and Phil for their contributions. If there are articles you wishto contribute or if there are things you would like to see in our newsletter then please contact us: Email: mailto:[email protected],au or by phone: 0438 566 250 or by post to:P.O. Pomonal 3381

APSVic Grampians Committee 2018-19 (from March onwards)

Office BearersPresident: VacantVice President: John KingSecretary: Andrea Shelley (0405 993 763)Treasurer: Anita Evans (0409 524 017)

Ordinary MembersLloyd ThomasRoss SimpsonPhil Williams

RolesNewsletter Editor: Phil WilliamsMemberships and HallCommittee Rep: Anita Evans

Gold Coin Donation Appreciated Save Water with Australian Native Plants

Largest Range - All Grown in SA Books - Free Soil pH Testing – Advice Demonstrations - Children’s Activities

Check the website for further information www.australianplantssa.asn.au

ADELAIDE SHOWGROUNDS WAYVILLE

follow the signs from the Rose Terrace entrance

SUNDAY 14th April

10 am to 4 pm

SATURDAY 13th April

10 am to 5 pm

AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS

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Autumn 2019

THE AUSTRALIAN PLANTS SOCIETY’S

next meeting coming up grampians newsletter mar 19.… · wellbeing of wildlife in your local...

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