Sue and Christine at the washing station

Those dry 40-degree plus days in December and January scorched many local indigenous plants (and garden vegetables!) but the seedlings at the Propagation Unit faired surprisingly well.

The eucalypts suffered with their oil-rich leaves frying despite the protection of shade cloths, and a few other species sustained minor damage. But generally, the plants are looking good for the start of our plant selling year which begins in early April (for details see next month’s newsletter).

The propagation group brought back several ideas from last year’s trip to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne, all of which are already proving encouraging.

Despite the tough summer conditions, root development in seed trays is much improved with the introduction of a different growing medium so we can transplant seedlings several weeks earlier than usual. An experiment with difficult cuttings put in ready-made peat plugs is also yielding good results. We hope that these successes continue and will increase the range of species that we can offer to members.

But we will stick with some traditions in 2020. Please leaving any forest tubes (the small black square ones) that you have outside the ANGAIR office and we’ll sterilise them for reuse.

Sally White

Ross Murray sorting seeds

Janet checking plants

Planting the screen Pomaderris

We meet at at the propagation unit behind the ANGAIR office, each Tuesday and Thursday at 9.00 a.m. and continue until we finish at about 12.00 p.m. Anyone with an interest in achieving something special is welcome, and no experience is required.

For upcoming activities, check out the ANGAIR events calendar.