Introduction
Congratulations to Patrick Laher from the Armidale Australian Plants Society Group, who was awarded Life Membership at the APS NSW AGM 2024. This summary is based on the nomination from the Armidale Australian Plants Society Group, with added detail. APS Armidale are delighted to have Patrick as a continuing member of our group and we very much value his contribution. He is worthy of Life Membership both for his service to Armidale APS, the Community, the Conservation of our flora & his practical contribution to the governance of the Australian Plants Society
Pat Laher came to Armidale from Warrnambool in Victoria where he had been employed by the State Electricity Commission as a High Voltage Electrician. Pat had joined SGAP there in the 1950s, developed a showpiece garden of Australian plants and ran a small hobby Nursery. He travelled widely, including to WA, to see more of our flora. Also, with a small group of other SGAP members, Pat joined in the purchase of a 100-acre bush block to be put aside as a Nature Reserve. Pat has continued to support and work for the preservation of this block.
Pat joined Armidale and District group in 1987. With his considerable experience and knowledge of Australian plants, he brought to the Armidale group new techniques such as mounding. He also introduced us to a whole range of unfamiliar plants from Victoria and the other States. We were limited in the range of species we were growing as we strove to find how to grow plants in our challenging climate.
Over the years here, Pat has developed two beautiful gardens of Australian plants. The first garden was an extensive one on a 5-acre block on the edge of Armidale. The second and current one is a standard quarter-acre town block in nearby Uralla. His gardens always exhibit a wide range of plants, tastefully grown in an appealing design which includes water features, paths, mounded /raised garden beds and hundreds of Australian plants. The species grown include many unusual/rare local plants that are being trialled as garden plants.
Service to Armidale APS, the Community, & the Conservation of our flora
Pat has served in many positions in our local APS Group. He is our current President and has served several terms as our President in past years. He has been a committee member every year since joining.
Outings Officer:
Pat is, and has been for many years our Outings Officer, responsible for suggesting venues and organising our popular garden visits and excursions. Each year he will arrive at the Planning Meeting with ideas and suggestions. He has contact with other keen native plant enthusiasts in the region who usually are agreeable to our visiting, such is Pat’s pleasant and friendly attitude and appreciation of the efforts being made. His knowledge of local flora is such that he can suggest the most appropriate time to visit and may be aware of groups of unusual or spectacular roadside plants which can be visited enroute to a more distant venue. His own garden, a favourite venue, has been opened to the public on many occasions and has attracted large crowds.
Apart from the planned Group visits, Pat makes a point of visiting new members as they establish their garden with suggestions and encouragement. He is available at any time to help solve problems, provide ideas or offer and deliver plants he has propagated.
Monthly Markets:
For over 20 years Pat has organised and served at our regular stall at the monthly Armidale “Markets in the Mall”. Here plants appropriate to the local climate are sold, having been obtained from the Mole Station Nursery, west of Tenterfield. Plants must be ordered, taken delivery of, cared for and set up on Market days. There are always plenty of questions and comments from buyers and those browsing, and Pat cheerfully responds. His latest move has been to train other members to man the Armidale stall while he has established and now runs a monthly APS stall at the Uralla markets which is proving equally successful.
His knowledge and willingness to contribute is much appreciated by the local nurseries as well. He reports the presence of rare plants or spectacular sightings and provides cutting material from his own garden. At times when unusual stock plants are lost, and reported to Pat, he will search out local enthusiasts who may have the species growing, so new cuttings material can be obtained to rebuild stocks. The report states that “I can always be sure that material Pat sends (often by post) will arrive in good condition for propagating”.
Community Activities
Open Gardens:
Pat has also been the coordinator of our annual Open Garden and plant sale held in the first weekend of November, in conjunction with the St Peter’s Open Garden Scheme. This involves locating a suitable native garden, encouraging the owner to open to the public and host a major plant sale. Seeing a well-presented garden of Australian Natives opens the eyes of visitors to the beauty and possibility of having a native garden themselves. Again, the plants that Pat sources for this sale are often unusual and harder-to-obtain species that are suitable for our climate He also works out a roster of members required for the weekend to serve on the stall and provide relevant advice. The money raised is used to support our work in the local Arboretum.
Last year, for the first time, the New England Garden Festival was held in Armidale. Group members provided 2 Open Gardens for the garden tour, several demonstrations involving native plants, and an Information Stall. Pat organised and helped with the gardens and stall, prepared a roster so that things ran as smoothly as possible.
Armidale Bicentennial Arboretum:
Again, for over 20 years, Pat has been our Arboretum Coordinator for the development and care of the native section of the Armidale Bicentennial Arboretum. This has been under the care of Armidale APS since the Group’s involvement in its planning and development in the early 1980s.
The post requires the organisation and supervision of the monthly working bees carried out by our Group members. Decisions are needed about the priority of required tasks, such as new plants to be added and sourcing these, and the ongoing care of watering, weeding and mulching. Pat maintains communication with the Armidale Regional Council and their grounds staff for assistance in procuring mulch and the removal of plant refuse. He provides the Council with regular reports and the Group has received acknowledgement from the Council who wrote “The importance of sites such as the Arboretum to people’s wellbeing cannot be understated. Certainly, the work that your volunteers undertake is of great value to the community as a whole”. Pat is also a regular visitor to the Arboretum between working bees, checking and helping with essential tasks that cannot be left to the next working bee.
Other involvement:
Pat’s contribution to the knowledge and appreciation of the native flora extends widely across the New England Tableland and beyond. Armidale APS has members living in Stanthorpe (Qld) in the north and in the south to beyond Walcha.
Pat has regularly participated in the Armidale Show, helping staff there set up a Native Plant section within the Cut Flowers area of the Pavilion displays. He ensures that the listed choices are appropriate for the species likely to be flowering at that time and encourages members to take part.
Apart from working within APS, Pat has been a volunteer in many projects in Uralla. He organised planting of native trees and shrubs in a local reserve with the BMX bike track and in another the “Glen Reserve” which is to have a walking track winding through an area revegetated with native flora. Another project of his is one with the local Primary Schools, helping students in their projects using native plants.
Pat also belongs to the citizen group “Greening Uralla” which has been planting street trees and using native plants to beautify nooks and crannies around the town.
Pat is a quiet, unassuming man who enjoys people. He is very effective in sharing his boundless enthusiasm for our flora, and its birds, animals and insects, with others. He is a generous person, generous with his time, his knowledge and his garden.
His contribution to the growth and stability of our local APS group has been ongoing for 36 years now. His overall contribution has continued for up to 70 years. We feel he fulfills the requirements of APS-NSW Life Membership and deserves public recognition of his enormous contribution to the growing, appreciation and conservation of Australian plants.