Group 10. Menai District

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Group 10. Menai District Newsletter of Menai Wildflower Group Menai Wildflower March 2018 Group Thank You Jason We would all like to thank Jason Cockayne for New Look for 2018 his long service as President of the Menai We have an exciting program of speakers lined Wildflower Group. He served for a mammoth up for the coming year and a slightly different five years, representing us in the community format for meetings. Our Facebook page is still and chairing our meetings. No one was better at the best way to keep up to date with activities, making visitors feel at home with a warm including meetings, working bees and walks. welcome to our sometimes draughty meeting As we do not have a President this year, the place. For a time, Jason was also President of MWG committee will be sharing presidential Oatley Flora and Fauna, serving as liaison duties. Hopefully this will involve more people, between our groups. giving extra variety and ‘zing’ to our meetings He brought greatly appreciated Hurstville which will keep our audience on the edge of volunteers to help us out on the Mounds which their seats! Various members will take the accelerated and enlarged the scope of the organisational roles necessary for chairing a project beyond what was originally envisaged. meeting, introducing and thanking guest He regularly comes to the IRFB after hours and speakers and making any reports that are battles to bring the weeds under control. topical. This will lighten the load for the We hope to see a lot more of him in the future. executive and encourage others to practice their Menai Wildflower Group latent skills in organisation, advocacy and public speaking in small, non-threatening Contents doses. We are seeking your input to meetings Thank You Jason ________________________ 1 too. Have you a favourite plant that you can tell us about? A photograph, or even a sample, New Look for 2018_______________________ 1 would be a good illustration. Coming Local Events ____________________ 2 If you would like to be involved please add your Treasurer’s Report and Membership Renewal name to the list that will be circulating at the Information ____________________________ 2 February meeting. Write your name and preferred month if you would enjoy introducing APS Group Activities ____________________ 2 or thanking a guest speaker. Of course, the Christmas Cheer ________________________ 2 kitchen elves love having a new recipe to set out Tip News _______________________________ 2 for supper too! Pam Pitkeithly Of Bugs and Plants ______________________ 3 Special Interest _________________________ 3 Nurseries Report ________________________ 4 Tip Nursery ............................................................ 4 The IRFS compound nursery ................................. 4 The Mounds ........................................................... 5 IRFS Gardens ........................................................ 5 Orchids .................................................................. 5 Snapshot of 2017 ________________________ 6 Correa “Dusky Bells” in my garden. P. Pitkeithly. Newsletter of Menai Wildflower Group March 2018 Coming Local Events APS Group Activities Don’t forget you can also attend meetings with 13 Feb Seed Bank visit (Mt Annan Botanic other groups – Sutherland and East Hills aren’t Gardens). Meet at Illawong RFS too far. Details of their planned events are 9am to carpool. Then meet at Mt available at APS NSW www.austplant.com.au/ Annan café at 10am. Please let Lloyd , http://easthills.austplants.com.au/ and (0400 431 216) know by Monday at the latest if you are planning to http://sutherland.austplants.com.au/ attend. Christmas Cheer 14 Feb Meeting at IRFS 7pm, Peter Chia from Muru Mittagar. The festive spirit was in abundance at our annual Christmas social with carollers from 3 Mar IRFS Propagation from 1pm Wearne Bay Cubs presenting a medley of old favourites plus the 12 Dogs of Christmas – a 8 Mar Working Bee at IRFS from 9am canine take on the classic. The catering reached its usual high standard, a testament to the many 21 Mar Meeting at IRFS 7pm, Ann Young great cooks who love Ozzie plants. Thanks to on Upland Swamps. all who contributed and particularly to the set up and take down volunteers. 7Apr IRFS Propagation from 1pm 12 Apr Working Bee at IRFS from 9am 18 Apr Meeting at IRFS from 7pm. Matthew Clark, APS Environment Officer. 6 May IRFS Propagation from 1pm 10 May Working Bee at IRFS from 9am Red flowering Gum, Fowler Rd, Illawong. P. Forbes 16 May Meeting, at IRFS from 7pm. Topic Tip News and speaker TBA Doug Patterson, MWG’s delegate on the LHRRP (Lucas Heights Resource Recovery Treasurer’s Report and Membership Park) Community Reference Group, reports on Renewal Information activities at the tip. Suez minutes are available, We will no longer be providing financial if requested, from him. information i.e. bank balances at our monthly The low rainfall has greatly reduced the number meetings. For those interested, as at 31 of complaints about odour with only one January, 2018 Current A/c was $8,948.74. significant spike in mid-winter. When your membership is due you now need The new compliance scientist at Suez reported to renew online at that the Council have inspected the mulch http://austplants.com.au/about-membership windrows and made recommendations on weed However, if you have problems or do not have control. Suez will start on Milk Vine and access to the internet, Sharon is happy to Lantana and Council will also use their high collect your cash, cheques or credit card pressure sprays on the Caster Oil plants. Suez payments and process them in the new system reported that they rely on Lloyd and co-workers for you. Membership fees are: Individual $56, as well. I requested that the actions be included Individual concession $48, Joint $66, Joint in the Suez Q/A logs. concession $58. If you wish, you can renew for 3 years. Sharon Pearson Page 2 Newsletter of Menai Wildflower Group March 2018 The tip will open one hour earlier at 5am soon female bug lays eggs and attaches them around and the weighbridge out lance has been a stem during early summer. duplicated to allow number plate recognition of Their favourite food is the hibiscus plant family commercial vehicles. This should make it safer (Malvaceae), but they will also eat Illawarra and reduce traffic at peak hours. Flame Tree flowers, grevillea and bottlebrush Barden Ridge has a new children’s playground saplings. As mentioned, they also like cotton opened in November next to the Sutherland plants and can be a pest as they can introduce a Shire Christian School. fungus that rots the cotton boll. Doug Patterson I wasn’t quite sure what species of hibiscus they Of Bugs and Plants were on. My plant identification book revealed It’s amazing what people find while walking three, two on the east coast of Queensland and their dogs: perhaps a stash of illegal drugs, one in Norfolk Is. Curiosity aroused, I took a bones or even dead bodies! Fortunately for me, clipping to the Sydney Botanical Gardens while walking our dogs along the beachside Herbarium and was advised that it was from the walk at Sandringham a couple of years ago, I Norfolk Island Hibiscus, Lagunaria patersonia. found none of these. As Toby and Mitzi sniffed As I regularly walked this path, I noticed that under a tree, my attention was drawn to from about August to October the tree was full numerous colourful bugs on the tree. You of the bugs. But, around November, not one couldn’t help but notice them as parts of the tree could be seen and by this time the tree was in were literally glistening with these iridescent full bloom with magnificent pink flowers – no insects. I took photos and after some googling wonder it is widely cultivated as an ornamental back home found out that they were Hibiscus tree! Harlequin Bugs Tectocoris diophthalmus also While I have mentioned the virtues of this tree, known as Cotton Harlequin Bugs as they are a it was only later on that I found out that it has minor pest of cotton plants. An even less one unpleasant characteristic - one that would flattering name for them is “Stink Bug” as they stop many from planting them in their gardens, emit a foul odour when disturbed. especially close to neighbours, i.e. the seed pod is covered in hairs that may cause severe skin irritation. I found this out when I touched one of them: the effect was immediate – I felt the fine needles penetrate my fingers. Luckily there was a faucet nearby and I quickly managed to wash and scrape the sharp hairs off my hand. Still, despite this, when planted in the right spot, this tree adds a pleasant feature to our suburban landscape. The Harlequin Bugs, however, when present, make this tree even more special. References: http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_stin kbugs/Harlequin.htm Clockwise from top left: Rainbow Lorikeet enjoying Norfolk Island hibiscus in full bloom; male Hibiscus Harlequin Bug with nymphs; close- http://www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Hibiscus- up of flower; and female bugs in cluster. Photos: John Prats Harlequin-Bug/Tectocoris/diophthalmus.html The females are orange with small patches of John Prats metallic blue scattered over their body while the Special Interest males are red with metallic blue patterns over their body. The patterns in both differ between Deadline for contributions to the winter individuals. They grow to about 2cm. The newsletter is Sunday 6 May. Page 3 Newsletter of Menai Wildflower Group March 2018 Any items suitable for inclusion in the Tip Nursery newsletter may be sent to the Editor (Post to Secretary or email [email protected]) Marian W has got the Tip Nursery’s year off to before the deadline. Preferred format is a good start, tubing up 600 Sheoak unformatted text in a Word file.
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