APS Blue Mountains Group - Annual Seminar |
3 July 2009 9:31 AM
Each year in August, the Blue Mountains Group of the Australian Plants Society holds a seminar on some aspect of growing, propagating or appreciating the Australian flora.This year the Seminar will be held on Sunday 2 August from 9:30am to 4:00pm and the topic is:
A Synthesis of Art, Science and History
This program will consider:
- Scientific botanical illustration
- Botanical art
- Craft and design such as stained glass, ceramics, quilting, woodcrafts
The morning program focuses on botanical illustration and art. The keynote speaker will be Emma Gray, research and reference librarian from the State Library of NSW, who will talk on the Library's 'Botanica' website which portrays illustrations of Australian flora from the 17th to 19th centuries. Marian Westmacott, one of Australia's most experienced scientific illustrators, will speak about illustrating native plants and artists will speak about their own work.
The afternoon session is devoted to design and craft with a keynote address by Margaret Betteridge, museum consultant and exhibition curator and author of Australian Flora in Art. Margaret will speak about the history of the depiction of native plants in a wide range of crafts such as stained glass, china painting and leather work. This will be followed by craft practitioners speaking about and displaying their own work, especially embroidery and china painting.
The venue is the Blaxland Neighbourhood Centre, Hope St, Blaxland. The Centre is off the Great Western Highway behind the Blaxland shopping centre. - an easy walk from Blaxland Station. If driving, turn at the lights at McDonalds. Parking available.
Admission: $20.00 incl catering.
Inquiries:
Merle Thompson - Phone: 02 4758 6637; Email: callitrisNO_SPAM@bigpond.com (remove 'NO-SPAM' from the address).
Jane Toxward - Phone: 02 4739 1905
{ 0 Comments } { Add Comment } { Permanent Link }
Australian Plants online - June 2009 Update |
1 July 2009 9:20 AM
ANPSA's online magazine has been updated. You can find the new articles, short items and reviews at the Australian Plants online Index.- Feature Article: The Joy of Weeding - We're kidding, right?! Well, no. It gives us the chance to observe what's happening around us
- Feature Article: The Garden in Winter - It's cold. It's miserable. But it's not all doom and gloom in the garden.
 |
- Short Cuts: One 'Must Know' Principle of Gardening - It's simple really. Understand your garden site and know its benefits and limitations.
Favourites: Pseuderanthemum variabile |
28 June 2009 8:43 PM
Following on from our last favourite (Acacia assimilis), Jeff Howes would like to introduce you to another plant that you are probably unlikely to find in a nursery. That doesn't stop it from being one of Jeff's favourites....* * * * * *
Along the east coast of Australia, in sheltered forests, Pseuderanthemum variable is a common perennial that grows to 15 cm high (less in my garden). The flowers can be either pale blue, pink or white and are in clusters at the end of the stems. It is a creeping herb and my plants creep at the rate of a slow turtle. They prefer dappled light and make an attractive addition to garden edges where they can be seen at their best. I have the pale blue flowering form and I am still on the look out for the pink flowering form as they would look great growing together.  |
Photo: Jeff Howes
|
The photo was taken looking down on the plant to show the flower and you can see the emerging flower clusters
If you have a plant that you particularly like and that might interest others, why not write a paragraph or two about it for inclusion here as a 'favourite'. If you have a photo to accompany it, so much the better but don't let lack of a photo put you off. If you're interested, drop me an email.
Previous Favourites
| Acacia assimilis | Hibiscus divaricatus 'Golden Haze' |
| Prostanthera 'Poorinda Ballerina' | Chamelaucium uncinatum: Geraldton wax |
| Grevillea buxifolia: Grey Spider flower | Angophora hispida: Dwarf apple |
| Hypocalymma angustifolium: White myrtle | Calytrix tetragona - follow up |
| Calyrtix tetragona: Fringe myrtle | Pimelia physodes: Qualup Bell |
| Ricinocarpos pinifolius: Wedding bush | Senna artemisioides: Silver cassia |
| Philotheca myoporoides: Long-leaf wax flower | Epacris longiflora |
| Kangaroo Paw Hybrids | Alloxylon flammeum: Tree waratah |
| Jacksonia scoparia: Dogwood | Banksia media: Southern plains banksia |
| Correa 'Mannii' | Myoporum floribundum: Slender myoporum |
| Hibbertia diffusa: Wedge guinea flower | Callistemon 'Injune' |
Rediscovering Hibbertia rufa |
20 June 2009 1:00 PM
Hibbertia rufa occurs in moist habitats in New South Wales and Victoria and is recorded for Tasmania but has apparently not been seen there for almost 120 years.Until now....
While walking in an area north of St Helens (north-east Tasmania), Roy Skabo came across a tiny-flowered (1 cm diameter) prostrate Hibbertia which he could not put a name to. The plant turned out to be the elusive H.rufa.
 |
Photo: Roy Skabo |
The full story can be found on the website for the Australian Plant Society (Tasmania), Hobart Group.
New Issue of "Australian Plants" |
17 June 2009 9:46 PM
The March 2008 issue of the Society's quarterly print journal, Australian Plants has just been published.
Contents of the new issue include:- Victoria's Western Flora
- Wilson's Promontory
- The Yarra Ranges Plant Directory
- The Australian Garden, Cranbourne
- The Kennedy Arboretum
- Our Garden in Ocean Grove
- Daniel Bunce
- The Geelong Special Playspace
- The Deppeler Garden
- A Conservation Garden in Mallacoota
- Hunting Ducks in Victoria (Duck Orchids)
And in case you're wondering.... Yes, this is the March 2008 issue (not 2009). The reasons for the production delays with Australian Plants are varied but are not the fault of the Publishing Committee. Delays in Australian Plants are nothing new - the bottom line is that in the 50 year history of the journal, there has never been a missed issue.
Australian Plants is included with membership for most of the Regional branches of the Society. It's also possible to subscribe separate of membership - see the "Publications" section of the ASGAP website.
Favourites: Acacia assimilis |
11 June 2009 10:37 PM
Acacia assimilis is a plant you won't see in nurseries very often, but it has become one of Tony Cavanagh's favourites....* * * * * *
A few years ago, I obtained seeds of a few of the smaller acacias which I was interested in growing. One was apparently misnamed but I have subsequently found out that it is definitely one of the forms of an uncommon Western Australian species, Acacia assimilis and probably subsp. atroviridis. I may have been lucky with the position I chose but it has proved to be very attractive and floriferous plant and reliable after some five years in the garden. The things that I like about my plant are its beautiful shape - whether in flower or not, it is a rounded dome of dense green leaves or a ball of gold, as I hope the pictures show, and the intricacy of the flower heads in close up.
 |
 |
Photos: Tony Cavanagh
|
The plant flowers for several months in spring and the flowers really are the intense yellow the pictures show. It is growing in a lightly shaded situation in well drained soil and rarely needs watering once established. I did however, receive a fright in the heat wave in early January when we had three days in a row over 43 oC, two of them reaching 46 oC, and I noticed a carpet of green under the plant. It had shed masses of its phyllodes, a standard plant protection strategy in times of stress, and I hastily poured a couple of buckets of water around it. The plant recovered and I am looking forward to its flowering again this spring.
If you have a plant that you particularly like and that might interest others, why not write a paragraph or two about it for inclusion here as a 'favourite'. If you have a photo to accompany it, so much the better but don't let lack of a photo put you off. If you're interested, drop me an email.
Previous Favourites
Hibiscus divaricatus 'Golden Haze'Prostanthera 'Poorinda Ballerina'
Chamelaucium uncinatum: Geraldton wax
Grevillea buxifolia: Grey Spider flower
Angophora hispida: Dwarf apple
Hypocalymma angustifolium: White myrtle
Calytrix tetragona - follow up
Calyrtix tetragona: Fringe myrtle
Pimelia physodes: Qualup Bell
Ricinocarpos pinifolius: Wedding bush
Senna artemisioides: Silver cassia
Philotheca myoporoides: Long-leaf wax flower
Epacris longiflora
Kangaroo Paw Hybrids
Alloxylon flammeum: Tree waratah
Jacksonia scoparia: Dogwood
Banksia media: Southern plains banksia
Correa 'Mannii'
Myoporum floribundum: Slender myoporum
Hibbertia diffusa: Wedge guinea flower
Callistemon 'Injune'
National Register of Big Trees |
1 June 2009 6:10 PM
I received an email from Derek McIntosh who is setting up a register of significant Australian trees. The register will be an integrated list of Australian native [indigenous] trees, and naturalised [exotics/alien] trees.The aim of the Register is to locate and record the largest specimen of every species to determine the Champion Tree for that species.
Anybody can nominate and measure a tree! Points are awarded on the basis of a formula that includes, girth, height, and crown spread.
Derek intends to form a team of experts who can advise on the botanical aspects of the nominated species etc. As part of this process, a nominated expert will coordinate the measurement on a regional basis, but only once the Register is populated with a fairly large number of trees.
The Register will work closely with all Federal and State Forestry/Environmental Departments and related entities, such as National Parks, that have interests that parallel the Objectives of this Register
To find out more, visit the website that Derek has set up for the Australian Register (note that the website is still a work in progress).To get an idea of what Derek has in mind for the Register, you can see how the American Register operates here.
Australian Plants online - May 2009 Update |
31 May 2009 9:26 AM
ANPSA's online magazine has been updated. You can find the new articles, short items and reviews at the Australian Plants online Index.- Feature Article: Everlasting Daisies - Australian daisies for massed colour in the garden
- Feature Article: The Dunedin Botanic Garden and its Australian Section - Growing Australian plants further south than the bottom tip of Tasmania.
 |
- Short Cuts: Garden Maintenance Tips: 3 - Help is at hand for getting the best out of your plants and your native garden.
- Short Cuts: Striking Beauties - Four beautiful plants that are ridiculously easy to strike from cuttings.
- Short Cuts: A Mystery Tree Bears Fruit - Ever heard of Halfordia kendack? No? It seems to have possibilities as a bush food plant.
- Review: "Tree Ferns" - Mark Large and John Braggins.
New Email Address |
28 May 2009 10:15 AM
A new email address has been set up for contacting ANPSA via the web site. It is:anpsaust@OUT-DAMNED-SPAMgmail.com
(Note: Of course you must remove "OUT-DAMNED-SPAM" from the address before sending).
The old yahoo address will continue to work for the immediate future but will be discontinued in a month or two.
Identifying Weeds |
20 May 2009 5:52 PM
While I was visiting the NSW south coast a week or two ago I came across a handy little booklet at one of the Visitor Information Centre's in the region.Simply titled "Weeds of the NSW South Coast", it is an excellent little (50 page) identification guide covering noxious and environmental weeds. On looking through the booklet, I immediately recognised many weeds that occur near where I live in western Sydney, so the booklet is obviously of wider interest than just the south coast of NSW.
For each weed described, the booklet has a short descriiption, information on the method of dispersal, "look alikes" and advice on control methods.
Copies are probably available from the Shoalhaven and Eurobodalla Councils, but it turns out that there is a companion web site for the booklet which can be found here. The website seems to include all of the information in the booklet plus a bit more.
{ Previous Page } { Page 1 of 28 } { Next Page }
'Gumnuts' Home
Articles Index
ANPSA Home
ANPSA Photo Gallery
Australian Plants online
Navigating 'Gumnuts'
Subscribe to RSS feed
Search 'Gumnuts'
Recent Entries
APS Blue Mountains Group - Annual Seminar
Australian Plants online - June 2009 Update
Favourites: Pseuderanthemum variabile
Rediscovering Hibbertia rufa
New Issue of "Australian Plants"
Favourites: Acacia assimilis
National Register of Big Trees
Australian Plants online - May 2009 Update
New Email Address
Identifying Weeds