2007 Review of Parramatta and Hills District Group, A.P.S.
Achievements and Activities in 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007
Community Events
Members were invited to the Birds in Backyard workshop at Baulkham Hills Shire Council Chambers in March. This workshop was funded by Birds Australia and the Australian Museum. After many years of research, presenters explained their findings and provided ideas on how to improve gardens to attract native birds.
In April, members visited Silky Oaks, Oakdale, the property of Peter Olde. This outing was organised by the Grevillea Study Group and the NSW Region APS. Expert advice and/or speeches were given by many local and interstate members such as: Angus Stewart, Don Burke, Merv Hodge, Cas Liber, Neil Marriot, Ray Brown and David Shiells. There was also an opportunity to purchase plants not available in nurseries and explore the native gardens.
Click thumbnails for full size pictures of Silky Oaks
Another April outing offered to members was the Open Days at Boongala Native Gardens and Rainforest, at Kenthurst, which displays a diverse collection of native flora from around Australia. They had a large range of native plants for sale. (This place is open to the public twice a year.) Open Days were held again in September and October.
In August the group had a stall at the Samuel Gilbert Public School Fete. The stall is always well patronised, and this year every bunch of native flowers (about fifteen buckets full) was sold. Also dozens of plants were sold, with helpful assistance given regarding the suitability of plants for buyers’ gardens. The group gave a contribution to the school’s funds. Plants raised in the nursery by the propagation team were also given to staff for the school grounds. Free plants were also given away to people who purchased plants.
Bushland Day was held in September at Annangrove Park. This is an annual event run by the Baulkham Hills Shire Council.
In November, members were invited to attend the Hills 2026 Vision Summit 
at the council chambers. A small group of members contributed their ideas. The president of our group gave a speech and a Big Postcard was presented and displayed with others from various community groups. This artwork was created with the help of Chris Tobin, who is a Darug man, and his unique perspective was appreciated.
Friday Meetings
During the year, there were many interesting Guest Speakers:
- Sutherland APS talked about their CD on Plants of the Royal National Park.
- Peter Olde, APS Life Member Topic: Hunting Grevilleas in the Wild
- Chris Anderson, Rural Fire Service Topic: Fire-wise Gardening
- Angie Michaelis, Sydney Wildflower Nursery West Topic: Do we need to use local plants and how local is local?
- Ed Friemanis Topic: Bush Regeneration and Reconstruction
- Nick Corkish Topic: Threatened Species Flora In the absence of Nick, the group’s president was able to present the topic, sent by email, using the newly acquired laptop and projector,
- September was a members’ night to share the spring flowers in their gardens. Topic: Let’s Celebrate Spring!
Sunday Meetings
In June we visited Jo Hambrett’s lovely garden at Dural. Members enjoyed a very pleasant ramble through the extensive and diverse gardens areas. Jo belongs to the Garden Design Study Group and she talked about her property’s history and design.
Click thumbnails for full size pictures of Jo Hambrett's garden
In July on Planet Ark’s National Tree Day, the group visited to Annangrove Community Environment Centre to help plant trees, shrubs and herbs followed by a sausage sizzle picnic, and a talk by our members Evie Roberts and Sue Martin. Junior and senior members attended the day. The wildflower ramble after lunch was the best part of the outing, according to many.
Click thumbnails for full size pictures from Annangrove Environmental Centre
Other Outings
In March, members visited the Bushfire Recovery Study sites at Porters Rd Crown Reserve, Kenthurst. Members check which local native plants had regenerated since two fires burnt the land. This study has been continued since 1991. There were also paw prints of a possible black panther, which has been sighted by quite a few people. Photos were taken.
In September, members visited the Bill Woods Reserve at Glenhaven where volunteers have produced an excellent result from bush regeneration.
National Event
In October, a number of members attended the ASGAP Biennial Conference in Newcastle. The theme was “From Gums to Gullies: Flora in Transition”. Over five days, local and national speakers talked on a variety of topics.
Members of the Newcastle group organized visits to local gardens and natural areas.
Several district NSW groups organized pre and post conference tours to places such as the Blue Mountains, the Central West and the Mid North Coast.
Propagation
Under Lesley Waite’s leadership a small group of members have met on the second Wednesday of each month at Bidjiwong Nursery to propagate seeds and cuttings. With the use of the council’s propagation sheds (igloos) they have successfully grown plants which are given away at Community events, to new members and to be used as raffle prizes at meetings. The team is specializing in smaller, hardy native plants suitable for suburban gardens such as Dianellas, Scaevolas, Philothecas and Grevilleas.
Laptop Acquisition
The Dept of Community Services awarded us a grant in response to our second application, which was used to purchase a laptop computer and software. Group savings were used to buy a digital projector. Guest speakers and members have already made use of this equipment.
Website
This year we have set up our website and hope you find it helpful and informative. Several students from Baulkham Hills High School put the site together with input from committee members. Students were given certificates and plants donated to the school.