Up the Garden Path…… My garden has taken a beating. I’ve lost two Japanese maples, and many of my young plants are telling me that they aren’t the ones to be keepers, shallow-rooted and thirsty. Looks like grevilleas may have to be the core of my next attempts at filling the holes. But - now writing once again on 18 January, and after visiting a friend’s mature garden, I’ve decided to give my year-old loropetalums another chance. We’ll see!

Keep an eye out in this issue for Shirley Seale’s column about our speakers for the first half of this year. Our ‘menu’, so to speak –it sounds inviting! (See back page for the list.) First up in February– our speaker on roses, experienced grower Klaus Eckhardt I’m watching the new rosebuds on my scorched plant with great respect for their resilience, and I’m hoping to pick up ‘rose tips’ too next month! Our April Open Day (2nd April) is only two short months away. Succulents and ivy geranium are the go, according to our Co-ordinator, Ruth Knight. If you can help out on the day, please see Ruth. Despite the heat of this extreme summer, my cuttings are doing well, and I’m catching all the rain in a flat container so they have their feet in this lovely rainwater! Jill

PS - Don’t forget your $2 to cover our afternoon tea costs. Sometimes the bowl is a bit empty!

Macquarie Towns Garden News Newsletter of Macquarie Towns Garden Club Inc.

125 Years: 1894 – 2019 Volume 18, No. 1, February 2020

Welcome back to a new year of Garden Club. What a summer it has been, with photos of desolation and hardship scored into our memories, and most of us just on the edge of it, but knowing people and places affected. At our Christmas party at the beginning of December, as our local area was being impacted, it was hard to imagine that this fire season would keep on coming, relentlessly. I’m writing this introduction on the 6th January, just after those severe fires on the south coast of NSW and Victoria, and while people are still awaiting evacuation. It seems inappropriate to be upbeat about the start of a new year, and our Macquarie Town Garden Club activities, but I know that Australians will pull together to begin again, although sobered by our collective experience. The planes flying out of Richmond as I write indicate that the process has begun at least.

FIX IT PHIL

HOME MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS ABN 62 077 367 205

ALMOST ANYTHING THAT NEEDS DOING AROUND THE HOME

Phil Conn 0408 819 or 4572 1001

Small jobs a specialty

In late November, I did some re-potting up at Old Bar for my daughter-in-law, and brought home some small succulents to nurture. The echeveria (right) is doing well; as is some silver kalanchoe I’ve put in a hanging planter, my very first ever! I’m gradually planting out the bare spots in my courtyard with these, and I’m enjoying seeing them thrive. As you can see, I’m an optimist, but how I miss the green lawn and happy plants. How are your bucket shoulders going? Not easy is it? After Christmas I did some consolation shopping at Bunnings and bought some unusual geraniums, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to strike some cuttings soon.

p. 2

MTGC news

Outings Our Club usually sets aside the 5th Tuesday of a calendar month (there are usually three a year) for a special outing and this year the first one falls on March 31st, very early in the year. In view of the short time available to organise and collect money for a bus trip, and also in view of the drought conditions, we will be making this outing a visit to the home of one of our members, or perhaps, a local café – nursery such as Mother Earth at Annangrove. It will be a time to talk and enjoy a relaxing morning tea. The Committee will make a decision on the destination at their first meeting. (Destination to be advised.) The sick list

Val Anderson, having had back problems just before our Christmas Party, had a serious fall on Boxing Day, with a broken eye socket, nose and hand and bad bruising, and a long spell in hospital. We wish her a speedy recovery.

Brian Dunston is doing well after his stroke late last year. It was good to see Joan Ridge back on deck after her fall and looking so well after our end of year party

Special birthdays Rumour has it Ann Chilman and Elizabeth Teo are marking very special milestones with an adventurous trip to Sri Lanka in early February. Ann will be sleeping in on 6th February and our Vice-President Louise Johnson will step up and lead both the Committee and the general meeting.

News about the Norman Lindsay Gallery The Club might be interested to know that all the art works at the Norman Lindsay Gallery were removed to Sydney in the week before Christmas and the Gallery has been closed and will probably remain so while there is danger of the Grose Valley fire becoming active again. The smoke has set off the alarms in the Gallery sometimes and the Firemen have arrived, so the paintings would have been smoke damaged even if the fire stays away. (The first time the fireman told Amanda that they must have been robbed because the gallery was empty. Probably a joke!). Better to be safe than sorry. Shirley Shirley commented that she has worked out that with 1 litre of water weighing I kilogram, she has lifted 130 kilograms watering the shrubs, .and expects that she’ll have big muscle power when these water restrictions are over! .

Christmas Lunch Our MTGC Christmas party seems so long ago, doesn’t it! Twenty nine people enjoyed each other’s company and the lovely meal at the Village Kitchen, Kurrajong. A special thank you to Ian Boshammer and Rhonda Lavender for their generous gift of 30 pots of their very own honey as ‘lucky door prizes’ for everyone at our Christmas Lunch. Despite Brian recovering from a recent stroke, Wendy Dunston still found time to drop off some raffle prizes for our event. The main prize of a lovely hoya was won by a delighted Karen England. The money raised by the raffle together with a Club donation of $250, was sent to Blaxlands Ridge Rural Fire Brigade in December.

Above – the Gosper Mountain fire on 5th December, 2019

p. 3.

2020 CLUB CALENDAR Every quarter, our Club receives Zone minutes which could be a valuable source of ideas for future speakers and outings, if I only had the time and energy to read them! Last year Shirley Seale kindly agreed to trawl through these, as well as go through a spreadsheet John Jones developed some years ago, which listed all our activities from 2003 to 2015. Shirley embraced the task with gusto, and in consequence, we have a calendar for the first 6 months of this year. I asked Shirley to talk us through what’s coming up:

Guest speakers by Shirley Seale

I started looking for speakers who would be interesting to us all: selfishly perhaps, an expert on roses was my first choice. I had inherited a garden of unnamed roses when I bought my present house and needed to learn some methods of keeping them happy and blooming. The speaker I found for February is Klaus Eckhardt from the Green-E-Roses Nursery at Galston, (who some may remember from a past visit). We have suggested that he speaks about Heritage roses but left the final choice of subject to him. I will visit the nursery this month to see him and finalise the details. I drew on my membership of the Hawkesbury U3A to choose the speaker for March. Ken Fraser, the tutor, runs a very popular class on Birds of the Hawkesbury, which was not a subject we have learned about before. All his students praise his knowledge and friendly manner as he shows and tells about the birds we commonly see in our gardens. I was very pleased when he agreed to be our March guest. April is set aside for our plant sale and Judy Horton had already accepted to come in May, so I was up to June. I had a few ideas, but then fate stepped in. A swarm of bees found a space between the brick and the window frame in my bathroom and I had to find a Swarm Hotline to come and deal with the problem. (I didn’t know then that we have beekeepers in our Club ! Thank you for the Christmas gift of the beautiful honey, Rhonda and Ian.) A very nice man called Michael Allerton spent the best part of 2 days taking bricks out of my wall, capturing the 5000 bees that had managed to begin a new home in the recess, returning at dusk to find the scavengers and coming back the next morning to secure the space until I found a bricklayer . In return, apart from keeping the bees and accepting a donation from me for his association, I grabbed him to be our guest speaker for June! Michael has another career as a hypnotist entertainer and has performed in many places including the USA, so I think he should be a great speaker and definitely not shy. He will speak about bees in the garden for us. So - the first half of the year is settled. I would be happy to hear from anyone with ideas for the second half of the year. We have a great diversity of members, who all know people who would be of interest to us all. Please tell me.

McGrath’s Hill Florist

Arrangements, Gift baskets, Helium Balloons, Bouquets

Open 364½ Days a Year 8 am to 7 pm Mon - Sat 9 am - 5 pm Sun & Public Hols All major credit cards accepted over the phone Local Deliveries (7 Days) Worldwide Deliveries (Interflora) Paul & Elizabeth Fraser Peppertree Centre 3A/211 Windsor Road, McGraths Hill 2756 Phone (02) 4577 5863 Fax (02) 4587 8663 (www.mcgrathshillflorist.com.au)

p. 4. Bits and pieces

(Right) Do you have any idea on what these young plants

might be? They are remarkably hardy, having been

brought down from Forster, neglected for a couple of

days, and then springing to life and flowering!

(Left) Beautiful new growth on a burnt gum tree near

Wallabi Point on the mid-north coast.

(Below left) beaucarnea recurvata –( commonly known

as Pony-tail palm) and below –a Dragon tree, both good

survivors during extreme dry weather. Will these

become a permanent part of our Sydney gardens of the

future?

A friend at Glenorie has managed an amazing rich green lawn during the long dry spell – and it was all ‘legal’! Take a close look at the photo (left). There is a drip-watering system on a big grid, and he drags them around, front and back, watering for 15 minutes at a time. Hey presto – green grass and a bad back. A dedicated lawnsman! The garden is around 40 years old, with mature loropetalums in those shades of maroon I was after, and consequently I’ve decided to hang onto mine a bit longer, even though mine are a dull green.!

p.5

The Significance of Flower Colour by Louise Johnson

As gardeners, we value flower colour for purely aesthetic reasons, but it is really a strategy devised by nature to attract pollinators, whose attentions ensure the continuation of the species. Colours for Pollinators Flower colour is also significant to specific pollinators. For instance, bees are attracted to bright blue and violet colours, while butterflies are attracted to bright colours such as yellow, orange, pink and red. Plants pollinated by birds and bees are genetically programmed to have bright flower colours to attract those pollinators, and when pollinated, the fruits of the plant will be sweet and pleasant tasting. Plants pollinated by wind and air have flower colours which are inconspicuous and dull, and when pollinated, the fruits of the plant will be unpleasant tasting. Night-blooming flowers take advantage of nocturnal pollinators such as moths and bats. Since they don’t see colours, it is not necessary for these flowers to be as colourful. Instead, these flowers use fragrance to attract their pollinators. There are some flowers, for example lungworts, forget-me-nots and other members of the borage family, that change colour from pink to blue. This indicates to insects that a flower has aged and is past pollinating, so they should look elsewhere. Colour Variance in Flowers Some flowers may change colour according to climatic conditions. Temperature can affect colour, and flowers in cooler zones will often have more vivid colours than they would in hotter zones.

Plant stress from drought, insect attack, lack or excess of nutrients can also affect the pigments of flowers, thereby changing their colours. Colours may appear to vary according to light conditions as well. Flowers seen in the morning or late evening may seem to have a slightly different colour than at midday. Similarly, flower colours may seem different on a cloudy day compared to a sunny day, or under the green light of trees compared to the blue light of open sky.

Human Perception of Colour Sometimes our perception of flower colour can change, rather than the actual flower colour itself. It is interesting that men tend to see primary colours, such as blue or green, whereas women distinguish many distinctive shades of colour, such as turquoise or chartreuse for example. This gender difference is related to differences in genetic eye anatomy.

p.6

Garden Club Calendar

Some speakers, subjects and venues may be changed

6th Feb Speaker - Klaus Eckhardt from Green E Roses

5th March Speaker – Ken Fraser – Birds of the Hawkesbury

31st March Outing – to be advised – watch this space

2nd April Open Day – 12 to 2.30

May Speaker - Judy Horton

June Speaker – Bees! With Michael Allerton

We meet at 2.00 p.m. in the Tebbutt Room in the Deerubbin Centre, Windsor Central Library 300 George Street, Windsor, unless otherwise stated

Visit our website http://macquarietownsgardenclub.wordpress.com

Office Bearers & Committee Members for 2019-2020

President Ann Chilman 4588 8651 annchilman@hotmail.com

Vice President Louise Johnson 4588 5717 stephenandlouise@bigpond.com

Secretary Jill Storrie 4575 3858 ardlui3@bigpond.net.au

Treasurer Helen Potts 4577 9950

Members Kay Brand 4572 5787

Pat Berry 4573 1532 patriciaberry1@bigpond.com

Karen England 4576 5368 ruffreds@gmail.com

Ruth Knight 4571 1718 curlyrichmond@bigpond.com

Afternoon Tea Convenor - Malcolm Tidman

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Of droughts and flooding rains ……..

Above - my luscious front lawn in October and right, in mid-January just

after the rain arrived. Note the alternanthera under the tree has changed from

maroon to dark green. The canopy of the evergreen ash has thinned

considerably.

Right – a eucalypt, oozing with froth after the first good rainfall for months

and months, at my son’s house at Old Bar. The phenomenon is described at

nvi.com.au. The trees have taken a hint from Alexander Greentree and

delivered a sudsy residue to maximise the benefits of the rain. It gathered at

the foot of the tree so that it could be delivered to the root system.