AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS SOCIETY (AUSTRALIA) INC GREVILLEA STUDY GROUP NEWSLETTER NO. 115 – FEBRUARY 2020 GSG NSW Programme 2020 2 | EDITORIAL Leader: Peter Olde, p 0432 110 463 | e [email protected] For details about the NSW chapter please contact Peter, contact via email is preferred. GSG Vic Programme 2020 | GREVILLEA NEWS 3 Leader: Neil Marriott, 693 Panrock Reservoir Rd, Stawell, Vic. 3380 NEWS FROM THE LIVING p 03 5356 2404 or 0458 177 989 | e [email protected] COLLECTION Contact Neil for queries about program for the year. Any members who would like to GREVILLEA GRAFTING visit the official collection, obtain cutting material or seed, assist in its maintenance, GENEROUS DONATION FOR and stay in our cottage for a few days are invited to contact Neil. LUCID KEY Annual Get together and Working Bee This year we are planning on catching up over the Labor Day long weekend 6th to 9th MARCH not Easter as mentioned in last N/L. However if you would prefer to come in Easter this will be fine!! As well as a quick cleanup of the Grevillea Gardens, there will be ample opportunity for catching up and socialising with fellow members, visits to some of the Grevilleas in the Grampians as well as a visit to Phil Vaughan’s wonderful nursery at Pomonal. We have a good number of beds available, 6 | IN THE WILD on a first come first served basis, as well as lots of space for tents or caravans. Please contact me on 0458 177 989 or email on [email protected] to register and obtain the full program for POSSIBLE NEW GREVILLEA the weekend. FOR WA Melbourne Meeting/Get Together? ROADSIDE VEGETATION Our Victorian Chapter used to have annual get togethers in the Melbourne area, and it has been INTHE WILD suggested that we should try and organise this for the coming year. The vast majority of our Societies members come from Melbourne, so it would be wonderful if we could organise a day of garden visits, get together and discussions/cutting swap and the like. If any members have ideas or suggestion on this idea please let myself or Max McDowall [email protected] know and we will get on with the organising!! Likewise, if any members would like a Grevillea Crawl to a particular area let us know! 10 | IN YOUR GARDEN GSG SE Qld Programme 2020 SOME UNRELEASED GREVILLEA CULTIVARS We gather at 09:30 for shared morning tea and a meeting at 10:00. We usually have a BYO lunch about midday. Visitors are always welcome. For more info or to check SOME FURTHER OBSERVATIONS OF venues etc please contact: Ross Reddick on 0405 510 459 or Denis Cox on (07) 5546 ROOT SUCKERING IN GREVILLEA 8590 as changes can occur. GREAT GREVILLEA GARDENS JEREMY TSCHARKE Sunday, 26 April 2020 GREVILLEAS IN CULTIVATION AT venue: Dave and Catherine Madden at Nightjar Ridge Natives Nursery; MAIN RIDGE a wholesale nursery in the Gold Coast hinterland. GREVILLEAS IN MY GARDEN phone: 0497 559 546 JANUARY 2020 Sunday, 28 June 2020 GREVILLEAS IN OUR BULLEEN GARDEN 2020 venue: Home of Alistair Barros, 84 Huntingdale St, Pullenvale. GREVILLEAS IN MY GARDEN Sunday, 30 August 2020 venue: Home of Adrian and Gail Wockner, 5 Horizon Ct., Highfields. Sunday, 25 October 2020 venue: Home of Alan Lee, 21-23 Lucas Rd, Tamborine. 18 | FINANCIALS Sunday, 29 November 2020 venue: Home of Jim & Fran Standing, Mt Clunie Road, Koreelah (Via Woodenbong, NSW) EDITORIAL A FEW WORDS FROM PETER Peter Olde, NSW As we turn into 2020 we must recognise that we have faced, Congratulations to Ray Brown who received an Order certainly in my lifetime, the worst of weather events ever of Australia Medal in the Australia Day Honours List for seen in Australia. A prolonged drought along the whole Services to the Environment and Conservation. east coast that even still continues in some areas, reduced rainfall overall, massive fires too unbelievable to recount, This award was principally for his voluntary work in and more recently flooding rains. We will not see the scale establishing and directing the Illawarra Grevillea Park at of bushfires repeated this year. There is nothing much left Bulli, N.S.W. from around 1984 to the present. However, to burn. We must pin our hopes on the ability of our plants Ray and his wife Vivian were, until recently, also the key to regenerate, especially the rare ones. I am hopeful that drivers and organisers of the Bulli Black Diamond Museum their evolutionary past will assist them. The importance of Heritage Centre on Bulli Railway Station. Ray is your iconic individual people, such as horticulturists and nurserymen, tragic volunteer. He also accompanies me regularly on to this process cannot be overstated. Rescuing plants by many of my field trips and once made a private personal cultivation certainly has a place. Australia is actually on the collection of Grevillea in New South Wales that he has front line of climate change, it seems. We must advocate offered to the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust to the world the perilous continuance of high carbon (NSW). emissions, for Australia and other countries. Small Pacific Even as we rejoice that one of us has been so honoured Island countries subject to inundation by rising sea levels for his work in Grevillea horticulture and development, could not make themselves heard at recent conferences. we are saddened to learn recently of the passing of Hazel Bushfire experts could not get an audience with our newly Althofer (1920–2019), another OAM, thus ending the elected ‘leader’. Of course, the denialists trot out the Althofer association with Burrendong Arboretum. Hazel arguments against doing anything. Our own emissions are passed away at her daughter’s home where she had been insignificant. We are doing all we have to do under various living in care for several years, quietly and in her sleep. She agreements ( I am not so sure of that). But we should really was a great lady for whom I personally had great be leading the charge. We have governmental failure of admiration and affection. Vale Hazel. leadership that goes to the very top I believe. They are revolting to me, the smirks, the self-confidence, the talk, the arrogance, the disgraceful culture of pork-barrelling. They should be acting for all Australians, not just their own constituency. Hazard reduction. Imagine the task when the plants are Illawarra Grevillea Park parched, one step from death, discarding their leaves, no NEXT OPEN DAYS 2020 new growth, just to survive the lack of water. Then along comes a bit of fire, high temperatures and low humidity. Nothing will stop the wildfire that follows that. Nothing. May 2 & 3, 9 & 10 Burnt areas reburnt after the hazard has completely been Opening hrs are 10am – 4pm reduced. Hazard reduction only cleans out the fuel load on the ground. These fires went straight to the tree tops. Location The Park is located at the rear of Bulli Showground, I have included a report on the conservation situation in Princess Highway, Bulli. Western Australia. People advocating for conservation there are all volunteers. Government for our flora falls a Admission long way short of what is needed. $5 adults, children with adults are free I want to thank Jeremy Tscharke for volunteering to take over the Seed Bank. It will take some time to sort out email [email protected] or visit but his willingness is greatly appreciated. Euan Mills also illawarragrevilleapark.com.au volunteered after I had accepted Jeremy’s offer. Thanks to both. Jeremy’s garden is featured elsewhere in the newsletter. NEWSLETTER NO. 115 – FEBRUARY 2020 2 GREVILLEA NEWS NEWS FROM THE LIVING COLLECTION Neil Marriott, Vic 2019 was another big year –numerous new species were planted out following heavy winter rains, and sadly, quite a few losses over summer due to virtually no rain since the end of August!! Despite the dry spring we still finished up getting 501 mm for the year, which is quite a bit more than we have had for nearly a decade, but still way down on our pre-climate change “average” of 650-700 mm. Summers are now so hot and dry that I have to mulch every new plant with washed river sand and place on drippers for the first two to three years! Most new plants now need to be grafted onto an extremely hardy rootstock. Sadly this means we now mostly use Grevillea robusta as a rootstock, despite its inherent compatibility problems –many grafts now need an interstock to overcome this problem! If anyone comes up with a new rootstock as drought tolerant as Silky Oak please let us know!! Rootstocks such as Grevillea ‘Carrington Cross’, G. ‘Royal Mantle’, G. Bronze Rambler’ Grevillea chrysophaea - Holey Plains State Park or G. barklyana hybrid are useless in drought conditions! Even with this extra attention we still lose numerous plants Tragically, it appears that this is exactly what is happening every summer. We are often finding that the tops of the with many of our wild populations of Grevilleas burnt out plant are being “cooked” by the extremely hot windy days, over the last few years. The beautiful dwarf form of even when the roots are cool and moist!! Discussions on Grevillea chrysophaea found only in Holey Plains State this problem with Phil Vaughan at Pomonal reveal the same Park in Gippsland is an example; this park was hit by very thing happening in his garden, despite Phil having unlimited hot fires in the summer of 2018-19, and several visits by high quality bore water to keep his gardens moist!! members since then have failed to find ANY young plants at all.