Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants March 2002 Ref Nº ISSN 0725-8755 Newsletter Nº 61 Welcome to the Grevillea Study Group once again. As a result of our last meeting , it has been suggested that at least some meet- Victoria Chapter Excursions ings and field trips be held mid-week. This will alleviate clashes Participants please contact Max McDowall 9850 3411 by with other social activities and may encourage a greater previous Sunday to receive further details of itinerary, etc., and participationrateamongmemberswhoareeitherretiredorflexi- to organise plant and cutting swaps. ble in their work arrangements. I am proposing a few extra 1-2 day field trips this year, especially to areas where I am studying Sunday May 19th: unresolved species. The programme is incomplete but ready up GardenVisits&PropagationWorkshopinMelbourneArea to June for the current newsletter. 1. Max & Regina McDowall, 10 Russell St, Bulleen. 9850 An attempt to document the historical record of the Grevillea 3411 (Melway 32 H6) from 10.00 -10.30 am for morning tea Study Group will be undertaken by Cas Liber and Bruce followed by tour of garden, BYO lunch & workshop. Wallace. Doug Pattinson has offered his services to scan the old issues. Most activities will be traced through the newsletters 2. Michael and Helen Williams, 63 Sackville St (via Main which will be scanned to disk and indexed. The index will be Road & Cressy St) Montmorency Phone 94392427 available over the internet and possibly in hard copy. (Melway 21 E8) from 2.30 p.m. Marriott & Olde are updating their key and this will be available shortly in separate sheets. Andrew Billinghurst has expressed willingness to get slides converted digitally and stored on CD. SGAP (QLD REGION) INC. We thank him for this in anticipation. Morning tea 9.30 am, meetings commence at 10.00 am. The Study Group (NSW chapter) have presently over $21,000 in For information contact Merv Hodge (07) 5546 3322. their keeping. An offer to the Australian Flora Foundation in the sum of $5000 has not been taken up. The first part of a $10,000 SUNDAY 31 MARCH 2002 commitment to finding a grevillea suitable as a focus cut flower Home of Ian & Carolynn Waldron, 183 Clydesdale has been sent to the University of Sydney and funding for taxo- Road, Jimboomba 4280 (UBD Map 330 Q1) nomic research has been approved for Peter Olde & Neil (07) 5546 9494 Marriott (petrol money). I am currently considering some possi- ble areas of research that may be useful to the group. Proposals Subject TBA. and new ideas are welcome. Phone the host of the meeting for detailed directions There have been some interesting views expressed recently in Group and State journals concerning the deterrence-effect of the words “study group”. Many new people feel intimidated be- NSW PROGRAMME 2002 cause of their lack of knowledge. We should work to overcome more dates inside on page 5 this attitude because most members have limited knowledge and Sunday March 10 10 am join the study group to acquire more. Place: Education Room Mt Annan Botanic Garden Members might like to correspond on these matters and any oth- ers that would make the newsletter more interesting. At the same Subject: Small grevilleas for the home garden time we should not compromise the top end of the knowledge Preparation for the Autumn Plant Sale stream that flows from members. Speaker:Peter Olde and others. At present, there are too few members contributing to the news- You are invited to tell us all about the plants you love to grow that letter. We need articles and observations from anyone who can fit the bill. do so. How about an article on your favourite grevillea and why. It doesn’t have to be a garden plant. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Go forward in 2002 and enjoy these beautiful plants, whether QLD&VicActivityReports,TriptoWesternNSW2001 they are hybrids or species. Did you know that even though it is A Trip to remember Part 2, Conservation Status update - the most horticulturally popular, the third largest in the Austra- G. divaricata, G. molyneuxii, Review of Flora of Australia Vol. lian flora, the best bird-attracting genus etc etc, there has never 17A: Proteaceae 2, Grevillea, G. cravenii, In the Garden, been a grevillea on a postage stamp? Vale-DaveGordon,NetChat,Horticultureandlotsmore… QLD ACTIVITY REPORTS from Elaine Jell OCTOBER 2001 NOVEMBER 2001 On Sunday 28 October, 32 Grevillea Study Group members met Once again there was good attendance from members at our No- at the home of Gordon and Maria Reynolds at Hampton on the vember meeting at the home of Fred and Joy McKew. The Darling Downs, 34 km along the New England Highway north of McKews live on a two acre block at Logan Village approxi- Toowoomba. mately 40km south of Brisbane. The large level block is tastefully planted out with a wide variety Following the prolonged drought there has been some good rain, of native plants obviously flourishing in the red soil. This is a and G. baileyana was at its best. Shrubby in growth, this speci- beautifulgarden,andhasfeaturedintheOpenGardenScheme. men was covered in flowers from the top of the tree to where the Grevilleas are a feature of the garden, and the subject for the day., branches almost touched the ground. G. stenomera and G. Chin- “Grevilleas in frosty conditions” quite appropriate as in winter chilla were also in full bloom at this time. the ground temperature can be as low as -7ºC. The subject for the meeting was “Smoke and Vermiculite Ef- This winter, Hampton experienced severe frosts. Grafted fects”. As we had partly covered this subject at the last meeting grevilleas suffered considerably and were cut back severely - but members had little to add. Our hostess Joy had conducted her are shooting again. Gordon wondered if once the plants experience own experiment with no advantage evident from the smoke treat- aseverefrostittoughensthemup?Silkyoakrootstockdoesnotfare ment. Another member advised the University of Queensland well, and more plants on their own roots are being trialled. In partic- was currently working on smoke treatment with no practical re- ular,G.arenariasurviveswellintheconditionsonitsownroots. sults to report as yet. The subject was closed with the suggestion,. “ifyouarehavingsuccesswithothermeans,whychange?” The toughest are the G.victoriaes. Gordon and Maria find G.wickhamii and G. agrifolia have the ability to come back after Before closing the meeting a member fascinated us with promis- frost, but they have lost 5 G.formosa. ing specimens of hybrid seedlings from her garden. The popular votewenttoher“PeachesandCream”averyattractiveplantwith It was interesting for our coast dwellers to find most of the lime green new growth and flowers progressing from cream to grevilleas we grow flourishing so well on the Downs. The soil is apricot with style ends orange. Several others, including seed- much better which is an added advantage. Gordon and Maria re- lings thought to be of G. “Majestic” and G. “Superb” also appear vealed one of the secrets of their success to be a handful of blood tohaveretailmarketpotential.Wewillbewatchingandwaiting. and bone in every hole they dig before planting. To sum up, it was agreed that “frost appears to be another form of pruning”. JANUARY 2002 Also discussed briefly at the meeting was the ongoing trial of Our first meeting for the year was held at the home of Annabelle smoke-treated vermiculite. Two members reported no apparent and Kerry Rathie. Thirty-three members travelled far and wide to difference in their trials. It is the subject of the next meeting so Greenbank on the south-western outskirts of Brisbane, with a further discussion was held over until then. goodrepresentationfromToowoombaontheDarlingDowns. Members were thanked for their support of the recent Flower The subject for the meeting was “Grevilleas for Heavy Soils”. Show at Mt Gravatt Showground. This venue is proving to be Our Darling Downs friends shared their experiences with the ideal and each year the show becomes bigger and better, and is an heavy black soil they struggle with on the downs. Another mem- excellent opportunity for us to introduce to the general public the ber remembered planting in clay so difficult to dig, it took 3 days many grevilleas suitable for most conditions. Having specimens to dig a hole which was then filled with water and left to wait for in flower is essential. the water to soften the area. The softened clay was mounded and Merv Hodge shared with us his success in transplanting seed- mixedwithgypsum.After10yearsthesoilwasstillfriable. lings. Instead of digging up and carefully trying to transfer the Mounding and mixing with gypsum seems to be the answer to rootball complete with surrounding soil, simply pluck the seed- our heavy soil problems here in Queensland. Good drainage is ling out of the ground and basically treat it as a cutting with roots essential. Raised beds are also recommended by the Darling already started. Don’t let the plant dehydrate! Place in a pot and Downs members. Just before Christmas one member registered cover with a 2 litre plastic milk bottle. (Cut the bottom portion 14" of rain over a 3 month period. He is adamant that raised beds from the bottle, remove screw top lid, and use this opening for air saved his gardens from ruin. movement and watering). Place pot in a shady place. Grevilleas robusta and venusta are found to survive in our heavy soft conditions as are G. hilliana, G. baileyana and G. helmsiae. Hybrids such as “Honey Gem” and “Misty Pink” alsodowellonceestablishedandrequireverylittlewater. One member found a form of G. pteridifolia in her garden did not perform well in heavy soil. A cutting from an unknown grevillea - thought to be G.