June 2024

WHAT’S ON IN 2024

5 June Wednesday 10am:Propagation
22 June Saturday 2pm: Members’ meeting Gumnut Hall
Speaker Stuart Read ‘History of Garden Design using Australian Native Plants’
3 July Wednesday 10am:Propagation
13/14 July WeekendVisit to Illawarra Grevillea Park, Bulli, plus other activities to be announced.
14 August Wednesday 10am: Propagation
24 August SaturdayVisit to Crommelin Arboretum Pearl Beach
11 September Wednesday 10am:Propagation
21 September SaturdayVisit to Fairfield Indigenous Flora Park (to be confirmed)
9 October Wednesday 10am: Propagation
9 October Wednesday 10am:Propagation
26 October SaturdayBushwalk Lake Parramatta. Leader Jennifer Farrer
6 November Wednesday 10am:Propagation
23 November SaturdayMembers’ meeting and end-of-year celebration Gumnut Hall
4 December Wednesday 10am:Propagation

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Meeting Saturday 22 June at 2 pm

Speaker Stuart Read “History of Garden Design using Australian Native Plants”

Jennifer Farrer

Do you think we started using native plants in gardens in the 1960s and 1970s? You may be surprised. Right from early in the colony, some saw the beauty and usefulness of native plants. We had an early export trade, marketing some overseas. Certain ones formed part of ‘crazes’ here, for a time. Learn more about our history of using native plants in Australian gardens over time in this talk by landscape historian, Stuart Read.

Stuart Read is a specialist in landscape and garden history, with a passion for design and plants. He has experience in the private sector and governments on forests, biodiversity, planning and design.

His focus is assessing, conserving and managing natural and cultural heritage. Stuart prepares nominations for NSW State Heritage Register listings for the Heritage Council. He gives lectures, talks and seminars.

He has previously worked for the Federal Government’s Biodiversity and Heritage units, on World and National Heritage listings and management. His publications include Sydney University Press’ Gardens of History & Imagination: Growing NSW (2016) and the Australian Garden History Society’s online lists of ANZAC and other Avenues of Honour.

The meeting will be held at Gumnut Hall Gumnut Place Cherrybrook on Saturday 22 June at 2pm. Visitors welcome


APS NSW Gathering Saturday 11 May

Linda Pine

Our ParraHills group hosted The Australian Plants Society NSW Regional Gathering on Saturday 11th May, and despite the persistent rain, there was a good turnout of members and guests from groups across the Sydney region and beyond.

Up to 20 people visited the gardens at our Community Environment Centre at Annangrove in the morning, before heading to the meeting at Cherrybrook. The guest speaker was our region’s Conservation Officer, Dan Clarke who gave a brilliant presentation on the ‘Plants of the Cumberland Plain’.

After the formalities, we all enjoyed a fabulous afternoon tea – huge thanks to all who contributed to the amazing spread.


Interesting Links . . .

Why do trees have bark? – from The Conversation.

This group rid one Australian river of its privet problem – and strengthened the community along the way – from The Conversation.

Wondering what Australia might look like in a hotter world? Take a glimpse into the distant past – from The Conversation.

Fungi of the Upper Blue Mountains – from Katoomba Local News.

Living on the Ledge: Saving the Dwarf Mountain Pine – from Katoomba Local News.

The surprising world of Sydney’s coastal upland swamps – from Environment NSW.

Lack of research on Australia’s native bees could be detrimental to their survival from The ABC.

Australian native bees and how you can help them on World Bee Day – from The ABC.

Get rid of your lawn for biodiversity – from The ABC.

Nature journaling encourages people to slow down and look at the world in curiosity and wonder – from The ABC.

Tasmania’s fungi season is off to a slow start, but when rain comes here are some species to look out for – from The ABC.

10 years on from the completion of the world’s largest pest eradication program, Macquarie Island is returning to its former glory – from The ABC.

We need biodiversity as well as trees in our cities – from the Biodiversity Council

Things people put in their gardens to help wildlife, and how well they work – from the Biodiversity Council.

Blaxland High is taking native crops to the dinner table – Lower Mountains Local News.


Angophora

I am a tree of beauty,
my trunk is pink and grey;
I am a living monument,
to those who pass this way.

I stand upon a rocky ledge,
my roots are anchored firm;
I stand above O’Hara’s Creek,
and watch the seasons turn.

I have felt the summer fires,
they burnt and scarred my bark;
I have felt the icy winter winds,
on days so cold and stark.

I hear the distant whipbirds call,
from moist dense gully hides;
I hear the sound of native bees,
at work within their hives.

I miss the song of Koori friends,
that used to pass this way;
I miss those skies of clean fresh air,
we knew in younger days.

I am a Sydney Red Gum,
my memories will remain;
As I watch the hand of ‘progress’
threaten my domain.

Malcolm W. Johnston


Tree Stumps in Gardens

Ian Cox

Do a Google search “tree stumps in gardens” and you’ll find many amazing photos and ideas.

Tree stumps are the stars of this story. They can truly enhance gardens with their beauty!

You’ll also find this isn’t something new. Stumps have been used to make visual impacts in gardens for many years. You can even make a “stumpery” if you have enough stumps and feel creative! A tree heaven!

You can use stumps, logs and rocks to make any part of your garden look more natural. They can also be used to fill spaces, and moved somewhere else when surrounding plants have grown large enough to fill the gap.

Are they just all about aesthetics?
No! Stumps can be great homes for reptiles and innumerable insects, including native bees, and beneficial bacteria. Fungi like to grow on and around them too. They make great perches for birds, and you can even put a birdbath on top.

As trees, they were guardians of our land, but now, stumps continue to nourish the earth and provide shelter for countless creatures.

Each one has a character of its own. They are unique. If they could talk, oh, what stories they could tell!

They can even look cheeky!

Tree stumps can be very photogenic – as you will see from these photos:

This one reminds me of a man lying on his back

Stumps make great homes for orchids too . . .

So, if you have a dull corner in the garden, why not brighten it up with a stump?


My Bunya adventures

Linda Pine

Two years ago, I collected some Bunya Pine cones from our Hills Council’s Bidjiwong Nursery, and had also been given a couple of dozen nuts from friends, which I then dehydrated and milled into flour. There was enough to make a cake with the flour, which turned out reasonably good.

In January and February this year I collected more cones from Bidjiwong, and with another volunteer at our Annangrove Community Environment Centre collected dozens of cones from local residents’ trees which they were happy to donate. Then came the real work!

After the cones drop from the tree it can take up to a week or more for them to dry enough to start falling apart so the segments can be separated. Then the nuts need to be shucked from the segments, shelled and dried for processing.

I found the easiest way to shell them was to cut them in half with a pair of sharp garden loppers (scrubbed and sterilized for this job!). They then went into the dehydrator (or oven) cut side down at 70 degrees for around four hours. This was enough to release the half nuts from the shells and any that weren’t fully released just needed a little nudge with the point of a teaspoon under them. After that, it was back into the dehydrator for another 4 hours, or more depending on the size of the nuts, without the shell to fully dry the kernels.

Once dried, I put them through a blender to break them into smaller pieces and then into a ‘bullet’ blender to grind the pieces down to a powder. I was originally using a coffee grinder for this but it was struggling so I changed to the bullet which was a lot easier and I could do it in bigger batches as well.
Between grinds, I tipped each batch into a sieve, and what was too big to go through went back into the bullet to be processed further. The last crumbs that wouldn’t go through the sieve I put into the coffee grinder which it coped with.

Now for the fun part – experimental cooking!
I first tried the recipe I had done 2 years ago for a bunya flour cake – which wasn’t too bad, but I found it a bit ‘heavy’.

Bunya flour is naturally gluten-free and is quite dense so I experimented with the recipe a bit and reduced the eggs and sugar, used almond milk instead of sour cream and water, and this is what I came up with for Version 4, which is the one I cooked for the recent Regional Gathering we hosted:

Bunya nut syrup cake – from Perri’s Plants to Plate on Facebook
(original in standard text)

Linda’s revised version is in bold italic– gluten and dairy-free.
Bunya nuts are naturally gluten-free.

Photo Chris Jones
  • 2 cups of bunya nut flour (about 20 nuts boiled, shelled dehydrated and ground)
  • 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder – 2 rounded teaspoons
  • 1 cup of sugar – ¾ cup
  • 5 eggs – 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup olive oil I would have preferred macadamia oil, but didn’t have enough
  • 1/2 cup sour cream ) I replaced the sour cream and water with
  • 1/4 cup of water ) ½ cup of unsweetened almond milk
  • Mix and cook at 130C for about 45 mins, check at 20 mins. Needs a higher temp-160C fan forced for around 30-35mins

Syrup – but use your own favourite version if you want

  • 1/4 cup of ironbark honey – I used Stringy bark honey but any will do
  • 5 Lemon Myrtle leaves – finely chopped – I didn’t like the bits of leaf in the syrup so have used ¼ to ½ teaspoons of Lemon Myrtle powder (a little goes a long way in taste) but a squeeze of lemon juice instead works well
  • 1 finger lime – I used the pearls from 2-3 small finger limes
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Boil for about 10 mins

Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out of the pan and pouring syrup over the top.

I haven’t tried this recipe with any flour other than Bunya, but I imagine you could substitute other types of flour to do some experimenting yourselves.

Happy cooking (and eating)


Ted Newman turns 100

Jennifer Farrer

On 27 May 2024 Ted Newman celebrated his 100th birthday.

Many members will remember Ted as one of the key members of our Group in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Ted was not one for holding key leadership positions. Instead, he was the one who kept our Group together behind the scenes. He always arrived at the meeting early to help set up. He was the one who planned and set up our displays and stalls at events such as the North Rocks Garden Show and the Castle Hill Showground. Betty Rymer designed these displays and left it to Ted to make it happen.

With Klaus Engelhard and Alan Galvin he organised our monthly bushwalks, and on several occasions longer trips away in the Snowy Mountains, Rylstone and Green Patch at Jervis Bay.

The last time he came to one of our activities was to our 50th anniversary lunch in 2022. Since then, he has slowed down quite a lot but still takes a keen interest in the Group’s activities.

Despite being a worthy recipient he always declined to be nominated for Life Membership of the Society.


Share your stories . . .

Your contributions to Calgaroo are always welcome.

If you have interesting observations of plants in the garden or the bush, photos, or any other news, please send them to me at itcox@bigpond.com for the next edition.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of our Country, the people of the Dharug Nation, whose cultures and customs have nurtured, and continue to nurture, this land since time immemorial. We honour and celebrate the spiritual, cultural and customary connections of Traditional Owners to Country and the biodiversity that forms part of that Country.

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Parramatta and Hills District Group

SECRETARY: Jennifer Farrer apsparrahills@gmail.com 0407 456 577

EDITOR: Ian Cox itcox@bigpond.com

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