Are you in arrears? Renew now!

Renewals can be made online on the ‘My Membership’ page – which is under the ‘Members’ main menu.  This Members Only area requires a password, although if you have previously logged into the system (on the same computer or device) you should get automatic entry.

Once on the ‘My Membership’ page, you will see the word ‘Renew’ in very small letters under your membership type.  Press the words and follow the instructions!

If you have any trouble renewing, or logging in, please email memberships@wildflowersocietywa.org.au for assistance from a volunteer member.

Of course, you can always renew in the usual way – with a cheque by post, or by telephoning the office during normal business hours and providing details over the phone.  The paper renewal form can be downloaded here.

Thank you for your support!

Book review: Biggest estate on earth

The biggest estate on earth written by Bill Gammage. Is from what I hear a fairly well known book on Australian history.

The book covers the subject of Australia’s landscape before European settlement as a land systematically managed with a scientific precision to ensure abundant and predictable wildlife and food plants. Bill explains How Aborigines achieved this using fire and plant life cycles to create varied land management strategies for the same goal.

The biggest estate on earth is a definite must read for people interested in Australian history and more importantly for people interested in land management. I know I enjoyed this book for that exact reason.

 

Review by Mathew W.

Newsletter Now Online – Members Only

NOTE:  Australian Plants has been delayed by the publisher, and will not accompany the WSWA Newsletter this quarter. You can expect to receive two issues in the next mailout.

The Wildflower Society of WA newsletter (February 2019, Vol 57 No 1) has now been published electronically.  All members are entitled to view and download the electronic newsletter.  The printed newsletter should be posted to those who have requested a hard copy (no green discount) in the next several weeks.

You may view the newsletter online by going to the ‘Members’ tab at the top of any page of the WSWA website, then choose ‘Newsletters’ at the side of the page.

Or link to the newsletter page here.

If you are having trouble logging in, it may be that your membership is overdue.  Please ring Perry House to inquire during office hours, or email memberships@wildflowersocietywa.org.au at any time.

Front cover: Depot Hill Nature Reserve, Mingenew.  A location on ANPSA Conference 2019 Tour 1.   Photo Jolanda Keeble.

 

Melville – cockburn plant list

Our Branch Patron, Alex George, has kindly compiled a list of native plants that have grown successfully in gardens around the Melville-Cockburn area for at least seven years which are considered reliable and hardy growers – many of which he has growing in his own garden! We hope that this list may provide a starting point for anyone in our area who is looking to plant natives on their patch. Enjoy!

Melville-Cockburn plant list June 2019

2018 Community Conservation Award

 

On Saturday 17 November, members of the CCWA gathered at Perth Waldorf School for the CCWA Community Conservation Awards 2018. Hosted by President Prof. Carmen Lawrence and Vice President Tim Barling, some of the most inspiring environmentalists in Western Australia were acknowledged.  Brian Moyle was honoured with the prestigious CCWA “Bessie Rischbieth Conservation Award.

Brian has been a quiet achiever who has shown commitment and compassion towards the protection of wildflowers in our state over several decades.

To Read more………  http://www.ccwa.org.au/awards2018?fbclid=IwAR0nytqnIlkmPJnzSJeL-zNFqEgTlRoP_9uJP2xsfaJ5plRQYDYGJG03w_s

Murdoch branch North Lake walk.

Walking through the North Lake reserve is still quite confronting to some of us, not quite two years since Colin Barnett’s bulldozers tore a 5km gash through the wetlands and woodlands.  For some on the walk it was their first visit back since witnessing the horror of the summer of 2016-17.

As we set off on our walk Felicity gave us an update of the past 21 months.  First came the remediation of the construction site and then the development of a ten year management plan for the cleared area and surrounds to enable the best possible opportunity for restoration.

We walked through the remaining southern side of the reserve which while still a very diverse piece of bushland is sorely in need of some focussed weed control.  (This part of the reserve is managed by DBCA who as we know are not well funded)

Reaching the road reserve and immediately we see the wetland-bushland divide of natural restoration. With only weed control and some protective fencing the wetland section has literally bounced back with pioneer species such as kunzea establishing in their hundreds and now other wetland species reappearing.  It is a sight that gives hope and demonstrates the amazing resilience of nature with a little help from its friends.

To the west is a different story.  We knew the uplands were going to struggle in comparison and although there are areas of really encouraging regrowth some of the areas remain quite barren.  Areas where the topsoil was especially disturbed and where mulch piles compacted and cooked the soil are going to need more intervention and TLC to come back. Now the road reserve is under the management of the City of Cockburn and the very competent Linda Metz leading the Management Plan there will be ample opportunities for our community to be involved in this process.

To see the first flowering of our most beautiful and sacred Christmas trees was a bonus for us all and by the time we returned to the Wetlands Centre it seemed we had all been inspired and encouraged by the strength of nature and community around us.  It was a pretty special walk.

An Amazing Surprise

Last week Gerald Lorenz from Germany, a mad keen wildflower enthusiast and a WSWA member for 4 years, popped into the office whilst on holiday here in Perth with his family. Gerald had put together a calendar in Germany with his photos of several of the 50 species he now grows in Germany.

WA Wildflowers in Northern Germany?

Roadside Vegetation Seminar

 

 

Sat 10th November 2018 – Ecology Centre 1.30pm

Cost $25 ($30 non-members)

RSVP is required to the WSWA Office 9383 7979 or email enquiry@wildflowersocietywa.org.au  BY November 6, 2018 and payment can be made by direct payment to WSWA Bankwest BSB  306-058 a/c 4197355 WITH a reference with deposit: YOUR NAME + TYPE OF PAYMENT (in this case: RVSC sem).  If you wish to pay by credit card, then please phone the Office

Plant ID Workshop Success

‘What a fantastic workshop! Would have to be the best $20 I’ve ever spent!’ – these are comments from participants of the Eastern Hills Branch two day workshop on plant identification, led by botanists Janet Atkins and Penny Hussey, who taught the anatomy of plants and then went through a collection of plant families and their characteristics. What an amazing benefit of being a member of the Society.  Many thanks EH Branch, and Janet and Penny.

 

We’re on Gardening Australia

Josh Byrne visits the Helen and Aurora Range with WA Wildflower Society member Brian Moyle, who has spent many years working to protect this rare banded-ironstone landscape and its Gimlet gum (Eucalyptus salubris) woodland.  It is currently within a conservation park, but the Society is hoping to have it changed to a National Park due to its National Heritage values.  The view from the summit is breathtaking.

The hard, hot rock formations result in temperature extremes, ranging from 50 degrees to freezing.  The area has produced many species that occur nowhere else in the world, such as the Bungalbin tetratheca (Tetratheca aphylla), which produces masses of purple flowers in spring and grows in tiny cracks in the rock.  We also see the ironstone beard-heath (Leucopogon spectabilis), which has white flowers and seemingly grows straight out of the rock!

Link to video here:  http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/remote-ranges/10343146