Fake news can work – if you’re a wallaby!
From vegetation restoration projects to agriculture, plants that are valuable to us may also be tasty food for herbivores. To reduce the substantial damage herbivores can do in these situations, people have used various methods to control herbivores, from plant guards and fencing to sometimes killing the animals. A newly developed approach based on feeding herbivores misinformation to alter their behaviour may offer an alternative control method which is cost-effective and in some ways simpler to implement.
Saving our street trees: What’s going on and what can we do
Street trees are increasingly important due to the loss of trees on private land due to development, the higher density of urban development with more hard surfaces and less green space, and also climate change with higher temperatures.
Ensuring the survival of the Wollemi Pine
Discovering the Wollemi pine has been described as the botanical find of the 20th century. The Wollemi pine was once widespread across Gondwana before Australia broke off from Antarctica. It’s both a living fossil and a global treasure and, while it is truly a rare and threatened species that needs to be conserved for the future, this is a challenging project.
Re-greening our Country
A series of wonderful re-greening events were held during August, September and October this year (2023) at ‘Moorlands’, near Gunning in south western NSW. This amazing, biodynamic farm is owned and managed by Vince Heffernan, a 6th generation sheep grazier and noted expert on new forms of regenerative land management.
Planting Australian natives: are we bringing the bush to our backyards or our backyards to the bush?
Gardens are an important part of our existence in urban environments. They provide relief from the concrete and bricks that create the artificial environment that most Australians now inhabit – the urban landscape. Our gardens provide shelter and shade, a potential kaleidoscope of colour and, in many backyards, a small localised food source in the form of vegetable gardens. In cities, gardens and street trees also provide additional cooling mechanisms to the heat sinks of concrete structures.
What one council is doing about Invasive Species
Dan Clarke wrote this story on a talk that Invasive Species Officer Linda Brown gave at the Sutherland Group October meeting, on the Sutherland Shire Council Weed Species program
Native grasses – a vital part of the biodiversity mosaic
Native grasses and grass-like plants can be overlooked as garden plants but they are a wonderfully attractive addition to any garden, with the variety of shapes and colours of their leaves and flower heads. They’re also an important part of many revegetation projects. Only a tiny fraction of the grasslands present in pre-colonial Australia still exist, so we must all ensure that these remnants are preserved. Their high biodiversity value can be conserved through plantings in residential gardens all the way through to landscape-scale revegetation projects that repair environmental damage.
Book Review: South Coast Ferns. A complete guide to the ferns and fern allies of the NSW South Coast
Dr Kevin Mills has produced a comprehensive catalogue of the Polypodiophyta (Pteridophyte) flora of the New South Wales south coast, yet at the same time has also produced an exemplary field guide
Why do Eremophila have resin?
I had an inquiry from someone in APS NSW who wanted to know the purpose of the resin on Eremophila. I looked up Chinnock and, though he talks about the resin, he doesn’t speculate as to its purpose. However, he did refer to the work of several chemists who have analysed its composition.
Exploring ephemeral arid plants of NSW
The arid and semi-arid plants of NSW demonstrate some extraordinary adaptations to climate, soils and microclimate!
Restoring trees in the landscape: pitfalls, potential and some good advice
Whether you’ve planted trees to enhance your garden or address a salinity problem, your trees carry out many functions, such as looking beautiful, providing food and habitat for animals and insects, promoting soil health, mitigating salinity and supporting biodiversity.
Myrtle Rust
Myrtle rust is a fungal disease that arrived in Australia in 2010 and since then has brought four native Myrtaceae plant species to the point of near extinction.Despite the threat, there are some steps each of us can take to try to minimise the inevitable damage.
Ann Young on Mosaics of vegetation – the rocks and dirt story
Why do different plants and communities form mosaics or patterns across a landscape?
Insects that thrive on our native plants
Insects and plants evolved together and are co-dependent. Michelle de Mol, one of our Blue Mountains members, is passionate about observing and documenting, in pictures, these relationships. Here are photos she shared with us to showcase this relationships.
Nature strip planting
A naturestrip is a legally interesting piece of land. It is public land owned by the council with the ‘responsibility’ for its maintenance resting with the home-owner.
Weeds come in all sizes – trees can be weeds too
The word “weed” usually brings to mind smallish plants like trad, onion weed, agapanthus and possibly cotoneaster, but trees can also be weeds!
Ferns of the Southern Sydney Basin
Ferns are a distinct group of vascular plants and have been around for about 360 million years. Those early forests of fern ancestors produced the coal that we so rely upon today
Threats to Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub – Little Bay
Recently, Harbour Georges River group wrote to Randwick Council about a proposed development in Little Bay which threatens local bushland – Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub. Here is their submission and images to illustrate.
Conservation horticulture: Saving rare and threatened plants
Botanic gardens are sanctuaries to visit to admire the beauty of plants in landscaped settings and are also centres of research into many aspects of plants.
Mal’s Wild Side: Re-Wilding a Northern Beaches Backyard
When I first came to Australia from the UK, I had a fondness for the environment but knew virtually nothing about Australian nature. Years later, when I moved from inner city living into a suburban house with a backyard, something special happened. Fascinating visitors such as Blue Tongue Lizards, Leaf Tailed Geckos and Possums provided magical wildlife encounters and my conservation passion, long suppressed, became reignited.
How to write a conservation submission, letter or email
With so many ongoing issues of environmental concern, there are many opportunities to write a submission or letter expressing your views. Issues affecting our native vegetation include residential development, infrastructure proposals such as roads and dams, legislation on land clearing and development, and government policies and responses to climate change, bushfires and flooding.
An interconnected world – threats to our native ecology and ultimately, us as well.
Nature is truly robust, resilient and responsive – we’ve just got to stop throttling it!. A common theme which impacts every land managers plans and calendar is the monitoring and mitigating threats. This applies in all scenarios where landscapes are involved, from a farm or national park to a suburban block or even an apartment complex.
Many environmental threats are surprisingly universal. Invasive species impacts, connectivity, fragmentation, biodiversity and habitat loss apply to a home in the suburbs as well as a national park.
Seeds of hope for Banksia restoration projects
A plant seed typically contains an embryo, that develops into a new plant, and some food to support germination until the seedling can produce its own food. However, seeds may also contain microbes, like fungi and bacteria, that have no harmful effects but may actually be beneficial for plant growth!
Southern Highlands get together – rain and shine!
About 70 people enjoyed a wonderful weekend in the Southern Highlands, hosted by the local group. We had the opportunity to visit members’ gardens, listen to a great talk by Dan Clarke, and visit a range of bush areas.
Regenerating Mount Gibraltar, Southern Highlands
Jane Lemann, a volunteer bush regenerator shared the journey of regeneration of Mount Gibraltar in the Wingecarribee area of the Southern Highlands. This is the story of 30 years of regeneration.
Surprising Sydney Flora Tour – September 2022
Sydney has the distinction and the fortune of being a major metropolis which is virtually surrounded by major national parks which enable residents and visitors to enjoy the natural environment without long distances to travel. This is Part 1 of the tour story.
Australian flora conference chatrooms on YouTube
At the recent Australian flora conference, we had a morning of chatrooms. Chat rooms are designed to give people a broad cross section of information and insights, in an informal and inclusive setting
Let’s show a bit of love for the lillipilli
The lillypilly is a familiar Australian plant we often grow in our gardens. It actually makes up the largest genus of trees in the world and has a history more interesting than we might imagine!
Eremophila study group – the next 50 years
What you may not know is that Eremophila, which also called Emu Bush, Poverty Bush, Turkey Bush or Fuchsia Bush, is the 5th most diverse native genus with around 240 described species and many more sub-species and hybrids.
Eremophila are widely distributed in areas of Australia with less than 250mm rainfall.
Where they keep plants – the story of the new Herbarium at the Australian Botanic Garden
When Captain Cook sailed along the east coast of Australia in 1770 his merry band of collectors loaded the Endeavour with a very large plant collection. So, what happened to the 800 specimens that Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected? Over the past 250 years these specimens together with many others that the thousands of botanists collected have eventually ended up in large publicly funded herbariums.
Berry Public School Nursery – nurturing young minds
Berry Public School (BPS) has hosted volunteers at Plant Prop since 1990. The nursery was established by Dave Johnson, a retired primary school Principal, and Barry Virtue, then teaching at BPS.
Australian flora conference – presentations available on YouTube
In September 2022, APS NSW hosted the Australian flora conference for ANPSA, focused on the past, present and future of Australian plants. There were many outstanding speakers during the conference and a good number of these presentations were recorded and are now available on our YouTube channel.
Australian flora conference – past present future
Every two years The Australian Native Plants Society of Australia (ANSPA) holds a conference which is hosted by each state in turn. In 2019 it was held in Albany, Western Australia and approximately 330 delegates attended. It was the turn of APS NSW last year, but due to COVID-19 was postponed until September this year where it was held at the Kiama Pavilion on the beautiful NSW south coast attracting approximately 360 people from all parts of NSW, interstate and overseas.
Native bees and native flora go hand in hand..
While many of us realise conserving native plants helps conserve native fauna, the reverse is also true, particularly when it comes to native bees.
Bush care, not for the faint hearted
Diedree Noss gave a most informative and interesting talk on the group, Friends of the Colo (FOC) at the August meeting of the North Shore district group.
Report on Pilliga and Warrumbungles pre-tour
A report on the Conference pre-tour to Warrumbungles and Pilliga, full of flora sightings and images.