Wildflower Society of WA Northern Suburbs Branch

Newsletter - March 2014

Next Meeting :- March 25th 7-30pm, Henderson Environmental Centre, Groat St. North Beach

Peter Coyle “The Great Western Woodlands A Botanical Wonderland”

Coming Events :-

22 April - Giles Hardy, Murdoch Uni “Phytophthora Diseases in the South- West of WA and What They Mean for Natural and Managed Ecosystems” 27 May - Judy Fisher “Can the Soil Seed Bank Tell Us What to Propagate—A Star Swamp Study” 24 June - Keith Lightbody “Tips for Successful Wildflower Photography”

Last Month’s Guest Speaker

Digby Growns :- “Breeding New Cultivars With a West Australian Flavour” Digby Growns, Senior Breeder at the Botanic Parks and Gardens Authority in WA, was the Feb- ruary guest speaker. Digby spoke about breeding new Grevillea cultivars with a Western Australian flavour. He began by telling us that the aim of the plant breeding program at BGPA is to develop West Australian with desirable horticultural char- acteristics, suitable for today’s home gardens and Grevillea georgiana public landscapes.

Northern Suburbs Free guided nature walks. Each Month Run approx 1 hour. Start at 8am.

1st Saturday Landsdale Conservation Park. Meet in Landsdale Rd approx

Grevillea bipinnatifida 100 metres east of Evandale Digby gave us an overview of West Australian Rd, Darch. regional variation and characteristics and Contact Phylis 93499105 pointed out, what we all know, that Perth and WA is getting hotter and drier, adding to the al- 2nd Saturday Koondoola ready arid and semi-arid nature of much of the Regional Bushland. State. Therefore, plant breeders are looking for Meet in Koondoola Ave a combination of diversity, floristic impact, low Opposite Burbridge Ave. water and nutrient tolerant species with which to Contact Phylis 93499105 establish a commercially successful breeding program. 3rd Saturday Lake Gwelup Reserve. Meet Scout Hall car park near tennis Courts, Huntriss Rd, Gwelup. Contact Christine 94472983

4th Saturday Star Swamp Bushland Meet at the Henderson Centre at the end of Groat St, North Beach. Contact Christine 94472983

Some of the regional criteria which Digby and 5th Saturday Trigg Bush- others look for in species when deciding what to land breed include: grows well on less water; well Meet in the car park between displayed floristically; extended colour palette St Mary’s School and and season length; significant genetic variabil- Millington Reserve ity; demonstrated successful propagation; and (off Elliot rd) can produce new varieties with compact forms. Karrinyup. Digby outlined some of the successes which Contact David 94489192 BGPA has had in recent times, including Scaevola aemula ‘Blue Print’ and Anigozanthos rufus ‘Kings Park Federation Flame’, and told us that by far the majority of the market for these types of West Australian plants comes from overseas.

Digby then moved on to the specifics of breeding new grevillea cultivars, show- ing a range of stunning photos from the various species currently under breeding cultivation. There are over 360 grevillea species, two-thirds of which occur in WA, found in all environments and with a great diversity in floral colour, size, flowering season etc. The choice of parents is obviously of prime importance and Digby identified some of the more suitable and successful parent plants, in- cluding and . One example of a prom- ising cross uses the species G. cagiana – with its bright red toothbrush flowers, G banksii – a Qld native which grows to 10m and has cande- labra flowers, and G. bipinnatifida – an often used local parent species. Some of the other species with cultivar potential currently being used for breeding include G. tenuiloba – from Mullewa and with yellow/orange flowers, which shows different colour compounds in red and yellow. This is currently the subject of a joint BGPA and UWA research project into gre- villea colour. Research is also underway to breed out the prickly foliage of many grevillea species and Digby showed photos of some of this work. One unusual species – G. armigera – has black colouring in the flowers which looked very striking, while another unusual species still being worked on to breed a more ornamental shape, is G. magnifica, which has beautiful pink flowers with greyish styles.

Digby also spoke briefly about other aspects of the breeding program, particularly germination viability. He explained that pollen is stored in a fridge and is viable for 2-3 years. It can be germinated in culture with fluorescent light to test viability. Another method of viability testing is to x-ray hybrid seeds, al- lowing the sowing of only viable seed and saving a lot of time and effort.

Digby left us feeling hopeful that, even with the very small gar- dens which many houses have these days, there is hope that West Australian native species will be able to be bred which suit these environments, attracting insects and birds and pro- viding some habitat into the future.

(Photos courtesy of Digby Growns) Grevillea magnifica Vacancies on the Northern Suburbs branch committee have been filled and we look forward to an exciting year.

Executive positions are now:

President - Richard Curry Vice President - Tony Annels Treasurer - Jeff Mountstephen Secretary - Christine Curry

Mrs Miriam Neates from Lake Gwelup Primary School sent these photos of their planting day last June. The School was establishing a “Local Plant and Bush Tucker Garden”. Some of the plants were donated by us and others purchased from our branch nursery. Advice on spe- cies selection and planting was In our April Plant Sale we will have a given by Dave Bright few trays of Diplolaena angustifolia (Yanchep Rose) plants for sale. This is your opportunity to get our Branch’s flo- ral emblem into your garden. The Yanchep Rose grows naturally in quite harsh conditions on limestone ridges, so is suitable for most northern suburbs gardens. Plants generally grow to under 1m tall and will seed-in given the opportunity.

Up and Coming Events from the Latest Management Committee Update:

Honor Venning Library next opening will be at Perry House, Sat 5 April 2014 from 1 – 3 p.m.

Bushland Conservation Fund Steering Committee is up and running with its next meeting 2 p.m. Saturday 15 March 2014 at Perry House. More mem- bers welcome.

Plant ID workshop Saturday 17 May 2014 to be run by Murdoch Branch at Perry House 2 – 5 p.m. Cost: $20 for members, $30 for non members. RSVP to the Office by close of business Thursday 8 May 2014.

WSWA State Conference and AGM is to be in Kulin 28 - 29 June 2014. To ensure you have somewhere to stay as accommodation is limited. Contact Sandra Murray via email [email protected]

Murdoch Branch annual excursion to Perenjori in August 2014.

7-8 August 2014 Training programme/workshop on flora and vegetation of the at DPaW Kensington. Organised by the Bushland Plant Survey Committee. Contact Judith Harvey if interested [email protected]

13-14 Sept 2014 Ellachbutting plant survey with the Bushland Plant Sur- vey group. Contact Judith Harvey if interested [email protected]

23-30 September 2014: Coates Tour to Helena and Aurora Range with WSWA one of the sponsors. Details in February 2014 Newsletter. For further details: Brian Moyle 9330 1754, reservations: Coates Wildlife Tours 9330 6066

11-12 October 2014 Boonanarring nature reserve plant survey with the Bushland Plant Survey group. Contact Judith Harvey if interested [email protected]

Every Thursday and Saturday 9-00 to 3-00 Our nursery at Landsdale Farm School is open. If you can help out at the Plant Sale on April 26th, please let a committee member know at our next monthly meeting.