THE BOTANIC GARDENer - Issue 58 Winter 2022

THE BOTANIC GARDENer The magazine for botanic garden professionals

Theme: What’s new in your garden?

ISSN 1446-2044 | www.bganz.org.au

I SSU E

58 WINTER 2022

Editorial Committee

CONTENTS

REBECCA HARCOURT Managing Editor DALE ARVIDSSON Curator, Brisbane Botanic Gardens ALAN MATCHETT Botanic Garden Manager, Dunedin Botanic Garden TOM McCARTER Head of NHM Gardens, The Natural History Museum, London JANET O’HEHIR Secretary, Camperdown Botanic Gardens and Arboretum Trust Inc. EAMONN FLANAGAN Chief Executive Officer, BGANZ SIOBHAN DUFFY Graphic Designer DISCLAIMER: Please note the views expressed in articles are not necessarily the views of BGANZ Council. We aim to encourage a broad range of articles.

Feedback and comments on the newsletter and articles are welcome.

Please email: secretariat@bganz.org.au

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY: BGANZ acknowledges the traditional owners of Country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to Elders past, present and emerging.

COVER: View of Finch Bay from Gallop Botanic Reserve, Cooktown.

Credit: Peter Symes

2 President’s view Chris Russell, BGANZ President

4 Editorial Insights Rebecca Harcourt, Managing Editor

Feature Interview 6 A true believer in the power of plants, partnerships and doing what’s right Peter Symes, Curator at Cooktown Botanic Gardens

Feature Garden 14 The new herbarium landscape at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan: enhancing a world‑class botanic science hub Jarryd Kelly, Supervisor Horticulture, and Sitthichat Bamrung, Landscape Designer, Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Feature Articles 24 Introducing the Tasmanian Flora Entry Zone Chris Lang, Curator Tasmanian Flora, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

28 Celebrating Autumn in Perth with a new workshop series Amanda Shade, Collections and Development manager, Kings Park and Botanic Garden

Pollinating Great Ideas 31 A fresh direction for the Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden Jennifer Waithman, Environmental Interpretation Officer, Sunshine Coast Council

32 Importing endangered Engelmann oaks during a pandemic Jo Brennan, Horticulturist (Horticulture), Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Melbourne Gardens

Book Reviews 36 Celebrating Regional Biodiversity: Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens, Rosser Park by Kate Heffernan Reviewed by Lynette Reilly, Friends of the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens

38 The Amazing Case of Dr Ward by Jackie Kerin and Tull Suwannakit Reviewed by Loraine Callow, Program Development Officer, Williamstown Botanic Gardens, Victoria

Professional Networks 41 What makes a botanic garden a botanic garden? BCARM has (some of) the answers!

John Sandham, Collections Development Officer, Botanic Garden and State Herbarium, South Australia

46 Fighting myrtle rust with gardens’ data: which Myrtaceae already live in ex situ collections?

Damian Wrigley, National Coordinator, Australian Seed Bank Partnership; Brett Summerell, Chief Scientist and Director Research, Australian Institute of Botanical Science, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney; John Arnott, Manager of Horticulture, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Cranbourne and Emma Simpkins, Botanical Records and Conservation Officer, Auckland Botanic Gardens

51 Moving to Hortis: Cairns Botanic Garden shares their experience Dr Waheed Arshad, Botanical Scientist and Havard Ostgaard, CEO, Botanical Software

What’s New? 54 Botanic news: from home and abroad Eamonn Flanagan, CEO BGANZ

64 BGANZ Ltd – changes at Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand Eamonn Flanagan, CEO BGANZ

The theme of the next edition of The BOTANIC GARDENer is Influence and Action: Botanic Gardens as Agents of Change. The deadline for contributions is 10 October 2022.

Please contact the Secretariat (secretariat@bganz.org.au) if you are intending to submit an article or have a contribution to other sections.

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President’s view Chris Russell

BGANZ is changing The BGANZ governance review process took an exciting and historic step at the Special General Meeting held on 28 May with unanimous support provided by voting institutional members

Chris Russell

to transition our incorporated association to a company limited by guarantee overseen by a Board. Member representation and professional group involvement remains a strong focus through the Member Committee, with the change designed to strengthen our capacity to grow, and be more effective at achieving our objectives and service member needs. I am delighted that Lucy Sutherland will be our Initial Board Chair, given her extensive and varied experience in our sector and as a botanic gardens Chief Executive. My sincere thanks to the outgoing council for their contributions to the significant body of work involved along this journey, ensuring that member’s views were heard and incorporated. The Board will come into effect from 1 July 2022. More information is detailed by our CEO Eamonn Flanagan in this issue.

7th Global Botanic Gardens Congress, Melbourne 25–29 September 2022 The call for abstracts has closed, the keynote speakers are ready to go. All that is left is for BGANZ members to register and find their way to Melbourne for the last week of September.

It is a truly rare opportunity having an international gathering of botanic gardens professionals from all disciplines in our region coming together to explore the most pressing needs of our planet and plant communities – all under the banner of Influence and Action: Botanic Gardens as Agents of Change. The organising committee is thrilled with the calibre and diversity of our presenters and will be posting the program later in June. It is worth emphasising that this is a gathering for those established in our sector, but also those closer to the start of their journey, or perhaps less connected due to working in a remote location. BGANZ is providing seven financial registration grants (applications close on 7 June) to assist members to attend and ensure there is opportunity for gardens of all sizes to participate. Early bird registrations close on 4 July, with a discount on member rates. I hope to see many of you there. For information and registration see www.7gbgc.org.

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Australian Association of Friends of Botanic Gardens conference I had the pleasure to represent BGANZ at the recent AAFBG biennial conference hosted by Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden (ERBG), just south of Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast.

Many of you would be aware that the ERBG’s living collection was significantly impacted by the 2019/20 fires that swept through the region, followed six weeks later by extensive flooding, and then of course the pandemic. The conference theme Thriving Together: Resilience and Renewal in a Changing World could not have been more appropriate in the garden setting with the vivid red/green epicormic regrowth contrasting on the blackened trunks telling (some of) the story of recent experiences. It was a powerful, emotional and inspiring experience to hear first-hand what ERBG management, staff and volunteers went through in responding to the series of crises, but also an opportunity to reflect on how BGANZ can better support gardens in times of need.

In closing This will be my final BOTANIC GARDENer dispatch as President of BGANZ, so I take this opportunity to thank all members for the support and opportunity to contribute, and to my fellow council members and executive for the camaraderie and the collaborative approach to developing and improving this wonderful and important organisation. It has been fantastic to see the innovation and development in what we offer, most recently with the extensive program leading through May to our 7th Botanic Gardens Day activities. I will be continuing as a member of the Board so look forward to further involvement during this time of transition.

Stay well in nature.

Chris

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Editorial Insights Rebecca Harcourt, Managing Editor

This issue’s theme, ‘What’s new in your garden?’, has attracted some excellent articles about the ever-changing world of botanic gardens. As the thought-provoking Peter Symes from Cooktown Botanic Gardens reminded me when I interviewed him for this issue, botanic gardens were originally ‘physic gardens’, growing

Rebecca Harcourt

medicinal herbs. Most no longer fit this description. Botanic gardens have changed to adapt to the world around them, like the plants they contain. Who knows what the gardens of the future will look like, given the changing climate, and the political, economic and social environment, as well as advances in science and technology. They may look completely different, but I’m sure they will continue to play an important role in all our lives.

In this issue, we hear about some new additions to existing gardens, such as the innovative new herbarium landscape surrounding the new National Herbarium of New South Wales in the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan. This garden was designed to enhance the new herbarium’s seedpod-shaped building. In the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, a new entry zone was constructed to display Tasmanian native plants in a contemporary setting rather than trying to replicate natural bush landscapes.

We also hear about some exciting new initiatives, such as the autumn series of events developed

by Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth. These were designed to celebrate the botanic garden, promote Western Australian native flora, and encourage people to connect with their gardens and green spaces. In Queensland, the Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden has recently completed its first interpretive strategy. This strategy will guide the development of a full suite of interpretive services, from non-personal to personal interpretive products and programs.

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in Melbourne is making great progress in expanding the ex situ conservation of an endangered species of oak, despite facing more than a few challenges in the process.

Damien Wrigley and colleagues tell us about a new survey, initiated by the Council of Heads of Australian Botanic Gardens (CHABG) and BGANZ, that will help address the threat posed by the fungal pathogen myrtle rust. For those pondering the benefits or otherwise of the BGANZ‑recommended plant collection management software, Hortis, we hear from Dr Waheed Ashaad, Botanical Scientist, Botanical Software, on how BGANZ member Dr Charles Clarke, Curator Cairns Botanic Garden, an early adopter of Hortis, is using the product.

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Finally, I felt I should share a letter I received recently. In my new role as BGANZ’s administration and communications officer, I wrote to Sir David Attenborough asking if he would be able to help us promote Botanic Gardens Day and our plant lover’s challenge. Despite his advanced age (he recently turned 96) and other commitments, he took the time to hand‑write a very polite reply. As I head to the polling booth this weekend, I wish that our politicians had his intelligence, integrity and love for the planet.

I’d love to hear from you with any feedback on this issue or suggestions for future themes. Please feel free to email me at managing.editor@bganz.org.au

Alive with celebration Fifty years and growing Be captivated by Australian plants, flowers and landscapes from the Rainforest to the Red Centre.

Visit the new Banksia Garden to discover the diversity of iconic Australian Banksia. nationalbotanicgardens.gov.au/gardens

Photo: Steve Rogers

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FEATURE INTERVIEW

A true believer in the power of plants, partnerships and doing what’s right Rebecca Harcourt interviews Peter Symes, Curator at Cooktown Botanic Gardens

After moving over 3000 km to Cooktown last year Peter Symes is learning to adapt to his new environment, like the plants he so admires.

I caught up with him recently to find out what inspired this move, and hear about his love for, and life in, botanic gardens.

Peter Symes

When did your passion for horticulture begin? How did it develop?

My interest in gardens, plants and horticulture probably started in my early teens, being influenced by my parents, grandparents and an unusual great-aunt − a plantswoman before her time.

She would say ‘I’d rather have a sack of cow manure than a sack of gold!’

I started an apprenticeship in horticulture in the City of Knox in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne in 1982. In May 1989 I accepted a position at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) Melbourne as a horticulturist, which is where my real passion began. My first job there was at Government House, whose beautifully Guilfoyle-designed gardens were managed by the RBGV at the time. My six years or so there really shaped my interest, with so much plant diversity, and people to work with, reflect off and learn from.

I’m probably more interested in plants and their adaptations than in specific ornamental plants alone. I am fascinated by plants that surprise you by their tenacity or toughness.

My first job there was at Government House, whose beautifully Guilfoyle-designed gardens were managed by the RBGV at the time.

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Feature Interview You worked at the RBGV Melbourne for over 30 years, including your role as the Curator Horticulture. Can you reflect on your time there? What makes a ‘good’ curator?

My role at the RBGV became very diverse during the 32 years I was there, from getting my hands dirty in the gardens to writing policies. In the early 2000s, for example, I was in a position that focused on technical support, such as managing the lake systems. For this, I had to understand the dynamics of lake and wetland ecology. As climate change became an obvious risk for the gardens, I spent some time supporting projects at a technical level, anything from soil design to creating structures for plant selection, a real mixed palette.

I also developed my interest in applied horticultural science. At the RBGV I worked with instrumentation that helped us measure plant responses to various stimuli. This helped us improve our management and efficiency; for example, we developed industry-leading skills in soil moisture sensing in which we were able to measure soil moisture at various depths. Melbourne experienced very hot days in January 2014, with four consecutive days over 40 °C. Using our new techniques, we could observe that plants ‘switched on’ their roots much deeper than usual, at around 70–80 cm, where the soil was still moist. When moisture was restored, the plants switched off their root growth at this depth! This demonstrated that ‘banking’ of soil moisture was a valid technique in saving water and in providing a backup for the plants in our landscape in the event of water supply scarcity.

Soil moisture use at depth in relation to high daily temperatures in a mixed woody collection in the RBGV Melbourne Gardens. Most water extraction by woody plants in usually in the top 0−30/50 cm of the soil profile, with moisture preferentially extracted from the upper levels first. This graph shows ‘switching on’ of root systems at a depth of 70 cm (green line) and then ‘switching off’ due to irrigation or rainfall wetting the upper soil profile (blue, red and black lines)

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Our soil moisture research led to a water management technique called subsoil storage and recovery, in which irrigation occurs in winter, and plants use the ‘banked’ water later in the year.

I think this research is a great example of where botanic gardens can help inform better horticultural practice elsewhere. It’s crucial for us to recognise that botanical horticulturists, in looking after the living collections, provide a vital public connection to botanic gardens. Others in the organisation can leverage off this and take it for granted at times – we need these engaging landscapes and plant diversity to attract people. Once they’re visiting, we can take the opportunity to expose them to the needs for plant conservation and botanical science, and tell plant-based stories.

In terms of what makes a good curator, Richard Barley, a former director at RBGV, taught me the value of partnerships, relationships and working strategically with other organisations. I then tried to make this an art form for myself. I think our true success in the workplace is about our capacity to collaborate and to learn from anyone, whether they be an apprentice horticulturist or a university professor. Everyone has insights.

During my time in Melbourne, I developed a real love for botanic gardens. The first thing I often do when I go on holidays to another location is visit the local botanic garden. I’m interested in the diversity of botanic gardens big and small and try to be a strong advocate for them wherever I am.

I will always try to support the values of botanic gardens and the functions they provide, from plant conservation to community support and wellbeing. I’ve become very interested in the capacity of plants to support our wellbeing and have done a fair amount of study on this, anything from PTSD, where in Scandinavia, gardens are used as part of its clinical treatment, to just sitting on a garden bench to chill out because you’ve had a stressful day.

I’m interested in the diversity of botanic gardens big and small and try to be a strong advocate for them wherever I am.

You’ve volunteered at Global Gardens of Peace. How did you become involved, and how does this tie in with your work?

Global Gardens for Peace is an Australian charity founded by Moira Kelly, a well-known Australian humanitarian. Its aim is to create gardens for the psychosocial benefits they can bring to vulnerable communities, and it’s been a big part of my plant journey. Moira approached Andrew Laidlaw, the landscape architect who had designed RBGV Melbourne’s Children’s Garden, in late 2012 to assist her in building a children’s garden in the Gaza Strip. Andrew suggested that I be involved too, as I’d been looking for a way to become more engaged in community support. Since then, I’ve visited the Middle East at least three times and been to Gaza twice. On one of our visits, we met with the Hamas leadership and cheekily asked for 5,000 square metres of land for a garden. We were offered 20,000 square metres!

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Feature Interview We had a lot of support from both Israelis and Palestinians. It made me realise that plants have an amazing power to cut across cultures and politics. If we could bring more conversations about plants into our lives, I believe we’d be a much happier and safer world. The benefits of plants and landscapes are enormous, and well-researched. I saw real evidence of this – in Gaza, green spaces and gardens are considered more valuable than hospitals. There, people have said that gardens are like lifeboats. Unfortunately, due to the current economic and social situation in Gaza, the garden has yet to be built. It will probably take a long time.

Children playing in rubbish, Gaza Strip.

Credit: Peter Symes

Peter and Andrew Laidlaw meeting with school children in Gaza Strip to workshop ideas.

Credit: Peter Symes

Studies have shown that where you have highly diverse landscapes, as in botanic gardens, the benefits in wellbeing are greater than in those with less, like a football oval or park. Working with Global Gardens of Peace made me realise how special botanic gardens and plant diversity truly are.

What led you to make the move up north? What do you hope to achieve, personally and professionally?

I’d been in Melbourne for a long time and reached a point of ‘what’s next?’ In the Melbourne Gardens, I had amazing and varied opportunities, with access to typically adequate resources, including a strong professional network. I seemed to be increasingly drawn to looking at roles in Queensland (in fact, I was born in Brisbane) and was interested to see what I could do in a small under-resourced botanic garden, and I wanted to be better connected to a local community.

I’d also developed an emerging interest in tropical flora as I’d been involved in organising collecting expeditions to subtropical Queensland to source plants that would do well in Melbourne under future climate-warming scenarios.

Cooktown’s population is about 2,500 and it lies within the remote Cape York Peninsula. Cook Shire Council covers over 105,000 square kilometres of Cape York Peninsula (most of the area) and has a total population of about 4,400. The Cooktown Botanic Gardens are a little gem with a very strong heritage legacy, which appealed to me because of the similarities to the RBGV Melbourne Gardens.

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The stand-out feature for me, however, is the gardens’ connection to the work of Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, who were botanists travelling with Lieutenant James Cook’s circumnavigation of the world in the HM Bark Endeavour. The Endeavour hit the Barrier Reef and eventually limped on its way to be beached at what is now the Endeavour River on 17 June 1770 for repairs, which lasted about 48 days. Banks and Solander spent that time exploring and collecting plants of the region.

They collected about 380 taxa, which is over twice as many plants as they collected when they called in at Botany Bay. About 300 of those taxa were new to Western science and many of those are now grown in the Cooktown Botanic Gardens.

The other amazing aspect of the Cooktown Botanic Gardens is that it lies within the 62-ha Gallop Botanic Reserve, and including this managed area, is the only botanic garden in Australia (that I know of) with actual beach frontage (facing the Coral Sea).

I love the fact that the plants up here exhibit staggering resilience and survive outside their typical habitats; for example, there’s Swamp Mahogany Lophostemon suaveolens growing among granite boulders on the crest of the hill, when you would expect

The Cooktown Botanic Gardens team enjoying the view of Finch Bay from Gallop Botanic Reserve.

Credit: Peter Symes

them to be in swampy open forest.

Working here is very challenging and stimulating, both physically and mentally. When I started, I felt like I recognised less than 5% of the plants. It’s a very difficult environment to work in, but I’m still drawn to the heritage, botanical diversity, history and potential for community connection of the gardens. We have about 56-ha of natural areas to manage in the Gallop Botanic Reserve, including over 3 km of trails, and about 6-ha of cultivated botanic garden. The natural area has remnant vegetation that is as important as the botanic garden itself, and we have some significant challenges from woody environmental weeds. It’s open, dry seasonal rainforest, not the wet tropical rainforest you might imagine.

After only eight months, I’ve already had amazing support from my new colleagues in Cook Shire Council and also from others such as Professor Darren Crayn, Director of the Australian Tropical Herbarium at James Cook University. The Curator at Cairns Botanic Gardens, Charles Clarke, has never failed to answer my perhaps stupid questions. Staff in the Queensland Department of Environment and Science such as John Hodgon have also been great. John has initiated the formation of a Tropical Botanic Gardens and Herbaria Forum to provide coordination and oversight on threatened species. I’ve also had terrific support from the locals and the gardens’ staff, who are very hard working and keep me on my toes in the field.

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Feature Interview What do you think are the major challenges facing botanic gardens now and in the future?

That’s a big question! Climate change is the obvious one, in which the outcomes are so uncertain.

We need to make decisions now based on experience we don’t have. We need to become better at modelling and projections, and even our best models will be wrong at times. Plants will continue to surprise us with their adaptability, but we can’t rely on that. The challenge for gardens is being prepared to look at what we currently do and ask: Can we do it better? This is difficult for smaller gardens. I really detest phrases such as: ‘We don’t have money (or time) for that’ as it kills innovation. Rather, we need to ask: ‘How could we do it? Can we network or collaborate with another organisation?’ I’ve heard it said that ‘it’s not so much about doing things right, it’s about whether we’re doing the right things’, and another phrase that I find useful to reflect on is ‘Are we doing what is right or what is easy’?

The challenge for gardens is being prepared to look at what we currently do and ask: Can we do it better?

Botanic gardens can be very traditional, but we need to challenge the way we do things. Botanic gardens have already had to adapt – they started out as medicinal gardens. Now, most are not, and gardens of the future might be something else.

I think outreach and extension will be important. Imagine if we could connect into the whole of Cape York Peninsula – encouraging communities to look after plants in their own backyard and to become more focused on protecting the planet. This is much more powerful than just displaying plants.

Another challenge facing gardens is how do we move beyond our boundaries? How do we go to people, rather than having them come to us? Some gardens have started community gardens, but I think it needs to be broader than that. This is something we could discuss at a BGANZ forum: ‘Beyond the botanic garden fence’. Do we appoint community ambassadors to promote botanic gardens?

The last challenge I want to mention is that compared to when I first started working in gardens, our work has become increasingly complex and intense. We need to be across so many things, such as environmental policies and legislation. Also, there are so many ways of sharing information these days it’s becoming quite bewildering and will only become more complex. How do we manage all these processes as well as achieving our aims?

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For a young or not so young botanic gardens employee wanting to get promoted or change gardens or direction, what would you recommend they consider?

I recommend they take risks and be prepared to try. Be a problem-solver, not a problem-transferer.

Be prepared to continuously learn, on your own and from others. Have a positive attitude.

Ask questions. Be a bit stubborn – stick to your guns, don’t give up until you work it out. Be curious about the plant world. Be prepared to present and talk about what you do, at congresses, on panels, or simply talking to visitors in the garden. Sharing stories orally, as traditionally done by First Nations Peoples, is very powerful and can often be much more effective than other methods, such as signage and social media. People will remember your story, and you.

We need to encourage younger professionals to present − they have fresh, honest viewpoints and are not conditioned to say what they think people expect. When we rely on polished speakers, we sometimes lose sight of the infectious passion and interest that younger people have.

How important is BGANZ to member gardens?

BGANZ is the glue between gardens. It provides the catalyst for gardens to work together, via subgroups. It’s a network of networks.

It provides a platform for advocacy, especially for regional gardens. It has a role in supporting the smaller gardens. I’d like to see BGANZ become a stronger advocate for local government-run botanic gardens.

BGANZ is also currently helping to deliver products that will help other gardens, not just nationally but internationally, for example, supporting projects of the Climate Change Alliance of Botanic Gardens.

What is your favourite plant?

My favourite plant depends on the time of the year. I don’t have a favourite plant, but my favourite groups of plants are probably the ones that exhibit amazing adaptability; for example, while in the USA in 2008, I encountered the desert plant Fouquieria splendens. It has a branching architecture that funnels most precipitation to the roots and can produce new leaves within 24−48 hours of rain (the plant is often leafless and has green stems for photosynthesis). Plants have to adapt to their environment − they can’t move away if conditions get tough.

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Fouquieria splendens. Credit: Jo Brennan, Horticulture, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne.

Feature Interview What is your favourite botanic garden?

Another really hard question! I’ll show my bias and say my favourite botanic garden is Melbourne Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, because of its skilfully interwoven landscape design and botanical diversity. It has 7,000−8,000 taxa with large open lawn areas and long heritage vistas.

But I like all gardens; they all have something unique to offer.

What are you currently reading/listening to/watching now that enriches your life?

I’m trying to find the time to better understand the changing climate risks for plants in tropical regions. From a botanic gardens perspective there’s not much research in this area, due to a shortage of these gardens in tropical regions. I want to learn what we can do to better understand tropical flora and their conservation threats, and how I can apply that knowledge in curating the Cooktown Botanic Gardens and fulfilling our role in conserving the flora of Cape York Peninsula.

Even after all these years, I’m still learning.

Path to Nature’s Powerhouse, Cooktown Botanic Gardens. Credit: Peter Symes

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FEATURE GARDEN

The new herbarium landscape at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan: enhancing a world-class botanic science hub Jarryd Kelly, Supervisor Horticulture, and Sitthichat Bamrung, Landscape Designer, Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

The year 2022 marks the first anniversary of the Australian Institute of Botanical Science (AIBS) so it

Jarryd Kelly

Sitthichat Bamrung

was fitting that to coincide with this milestone, the new National Herbarium of New South Wales (NSW) was officially opened. After 170 years at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney (RBGS), the herbarium has found a new home in a world-class, purposebuilt facility at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, the country’s largest botanic garden. Inspired by the NSW floral emblem and designed in the shape of a waratah seed pod, the National Herbarium of NSW is now on D’harawal land and reinforces the garden’s connection to Country, as a place for reconciliation and gathering.

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Aerial view of the completed herbarium. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Feature Garden How it all began While we know First Nations People collected botanical resources long before European settlers, the herbarium serves as a scientific institution housing specimens collected on some of the first voyages to Australia. Botany is one of the oldest branches of science and botanists have been sampling plants from all over the world for centuries. Their inquisitive nature and exceptional record keeping has created an invaluable source of data we rely on every day.

Plant samples collected from the field are dried, labelled and stored in herbaria all around the world. The National Herbarium of NSW was created in 1853 and is home to more than 1.1 million plant specimens, including many of the specimens collected by Australia’s early explorers. Eight hundred and twenty-four of the specimens Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected on Captain James Cook’s first voyage to the Pacific, such as Banksia integrifolia, are kept at the herbarium.

The National Herbarium of NSW is home to more than 1.1 million plant specimens.

When the pair stepped ashore in Botany Bay in late April 1770, they found a botanical wonderland and over eight days they collected hundreds of specimens of 132 plant species from Kurnell, Cronulla and up into the Georges River.

These collections are still scientifically, culturally and legislatively important

One of the many specimens in the herbarium’s collection.

Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

today. Scientists use their understanding of evolutionary processes, plant family relationships and biogeography to provide a definition of the vegetation of Australia prior to European colonisation, which can then be corroborated by the diaries and journals of explorers from across Australia.

The herbarium’s new home After 170 years it was certainly time to upgrade the herbarium’s ability to protect priceless specimens for generations to come. The collection outgrew its old home, which lacked effective environmental controls, placing the collection at risk. A key feature of the new facility is the six protective vaults with precisely controlled environmental conditions, which are assisted by the building’s elegant, long span ‘fly-roof’ to shield the precious collection from bushfires and extreme weather conditions.

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Over 100 leading scientists, researchers and staff are now based at the ‘green’ facility, which boasts sustainability benefits, from a large photovoltaic array on the roof that will generate electricity for the facility within, and rainwater harvesting technology for irrigation. Next door to the herbarium is the Australian PlantBank, a major scientific research and conservation centre for the flora of NSW. The seed vault inside PlantBank holds more than 100 million seeds, including more than 70% of the threatened species in NSW.

The seed vault inside PlantBank holds more than 100 million seeds.

The garden that surrounds the herbarium The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of York on 2 October 1988 as the final Bicentennial project for NSW. Originally a farm, the garden stands on land that was originally part of 1,214-ha granted to magistrate William Howe in 1818.

It was run as a dairy farm by the Fitzpatrick family for more than 100 years.

Aerial view of the area destined to become the garden at Mount Annan, 19 August 1986. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Sunrise over Lake Sedgwick. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

The garden showcases approximately 4,000 species of Australian native plants and more than 300 animal species. It features a variety of breathtaking landscapes of woodlands, grasslands and horticultural displays made up entirely of Australian natives. There are walking paths that take visitors through Cumberland Plain Woodland, gorgeous lakes and beautiful places to see wildlife, including wild kangaroos.

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Feature Garden The people behind the garden From the manicured lawns to endangered ecological communities, horticulturists are the heartbeat of the garden. They nurture seedlings for science and conservation, tend to delicate paper daisies, clear invasive vegetation that shades out native plants, rejuvenate grasslands so wallaroo habitats can thrive, and more. The garden’s horticulturists cultivate plants threatened in the wild and work with researchers and scientists at the Australian PlantBank and around the world.

In a fortuitous coincidence, Michael Elgey, the new curator manager of the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, started his career with the organisation at the National Herbarium of NSW, which now calls the 416-ha site home. Michael started his career at the herbarium as a support officer in 2010 after doing a horticulture apprenticeship and working for several years as a horticultural tradesperson. While working in the herbarium, Michael continued his studies with a Bachelor of Environmental Biology from the University of Technology Sydney part-time, before transferring to the horticulture branch and then taking a role as curator manager of the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens and Kershaw Gardens.

Michael returned to the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan last year to work with the horticulture teams and manage the living collection and related projects. ‘I’ve come at a time when there’s a lot of major projects happening, with the herbarium landscape, Greening our Cities tree planting program, continuing to manage the remaining invasive African Olive Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata strongholds and working on other conservation projects with both Macquarie and Western Sydney University, and Sydney Water,’ he says. ’We’re continually building our living collection to engage our stakeholders. No two days are ever the same and a botanic garden is never static. To the public it’s a beautiful place to visit and it’s calm and peaceful, but behind‑the‑scenes there is always a lot going on.’

(You can hear Michael talking about his favourite plant in the garden at https://twitter.com/i/

Mike Elgey in front of the relocated Queensland Bottle Tree Brachychiton rupestris from RBGS. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

status/1520640566966509568).

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Inspiration and process behind the landscape We wanted to design the surrounding landscape to connect and resonate with the seedpod-shaped building. If the building is like a seedpod that protects and preserves our valuable plant specimens, then the landscape acts like a surrounding incubator that nurtures and supports the building.

Planting design for the Eastern Landscape. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Throughout our initial site analysis and study, we discovered a few challenges that played an important role in altering the final design of the landscape. The new building needed an increased Assets Protection Zone (APZ), a fuel-reduced area to minimise bush fire hazards, resulting in the loss of more than 100 trees, which greatly altered the surrounding landscape. The temporary increase in surface run-off, while the landscape establishes and rain gardens fulfil their purpose, has posed an issue in the surrounding water systems and their conditions. Transition areas, like where the dish drain meets the landscape, become a crucial junction where we must ensure appropriate solutions are being implemented.

Given the scale of the finished landscape, it was also critical for us to identify suitable plant species to ensure the planting is appropriate to its surrounding woodland, while still complying with our bushfire protection requirements. This will allow effective landscape management for future plantings.

Our vision is to create a functional and sustainable precinct. To achieve this, the landscape design focuses heavily on adapting and providing solutions to create a balance between the man-made elements and the surrounding nature. We carefully negotiated between enhancing the building and exposing the natural surroundings. Organic shapes became a powerful symbol that we used in contrast with the structural elements of the building. Cell-based garden beds across the landscape ensure effective access points for maintenance while mimicking somewhat the ‘wildness’ of the 18

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Feature Garden surrounding bushlands. A series of pathways has been introduced across the sites, reconnecting all aspects of the landscape to their surroundings. The curved pathways highlight the curvature of the adjacent building (the PlantBank) and the rammed earth wall, as well as forming the primary entrance into the site.

The garden as a place to meet To ensure we maintain our vision of reinforcing our connection to the country of the D’harawal people, we implemented a series of spaces across the site to facilitate gatherings.

Turf areas in the eastern and southern areas offer distinct spaces for accommodating different scales of events and gatherings, ranging from personal intimate spaces for reflection (across the southern turf area) to larger gatherings (eastern turf). A large extension of the pathway towards the PlantBank to the north has been deliberately widened to create opportunities for conversations between staff and visitors. The area towards the south, within the rainforest, offers a refuge for staff, as well as creating a place where our science and horticulture staff can exchange knowledge, and

View of completed landscape from southern garden to office windows. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

engage in public education programs.

The important landscaping of trees We have designed the eastern landscape of the herbarium to depict the characteristics of the Cumberland Plain Woodland species.

The southern landscape highlights the vital roles of successful Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), minimising the impact on our site’s waterways. The western landscape reintroduces tree canopies back on site and through the building interiors. The eastern landscape creates opportunities for visitors to touch, feel and immerse themselves within the planting arrangement.

Planting design for the sunken garden and southern landscape. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

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While the PlantBank’s garden shows the importance of Cumberland Plain Woodland specimens, the herbarium landscape provides an insight into how these specimens can successfully be reinterpreted and reintroduced, creating a unique and intimate reconnection between visitors and their natural surroundings. The cell-like approach to planting also creates an opportunity to reinterpret and introduce collected specimens from our science team, to test their viability on site, as well as display their uniqueness to our visitors.

The herbarium landscape provides an insight into how these specimens can successfully be reinterpreted and reintroduced.

The reintroduction of a tree canopy has been predominantly established across the southern and western landscape. In the tree canopy, a selection of large specimens like Wilga Geijira pavifolia have been introduced to assist with creating optimal conditions for an understorey planting and to create shade to cool down the building facade. Given the proximity to the building, Soft Tree Ferns Dicksonia antarctica have been used instead of upright trees to create a separation zone away from the staff window, while still allowing light into the building interior. Predominantly shaded across all seasons, the southern garden creates a perfect opportunity to display rainforest specimens across our garden, encouraging further exploration of our surrounding precincts.

The site of future fern beds in front of office windows. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

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A fern bed after planting with D. antarctica, W. nobilis, Fishbone Water-Fern Blechnum nudum, Common Maidenhair Adiantum aethiopicum, Birds Nest Fern Asplenium nidus and Common Reed Phragmites australis. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Feature Garden The relocated Queensland Bottle Tree Brachychiton rupestris from RBGS has been a perfect candidate to complete the design by merging the tree canopy with its surroundings, and linking natural views into the PlantBank interiors, while offering a screen into the PlantBank laboratory area away from the main entrance.

To complement B. rupestris, we planted the Flame Spider-flower Grevillea kennedyana, Common Tussock‑grass Poa labillardierei, Dampiera sp. Wongamine, Eremophila cuneifolia and Verticordia ovalifolia, with the bed being mulched with sandstone spalls (sandstone rocks of a certain size), connecting with the sandstone swales present in the broader landscape.

In our sunken garden, key tree specimens, such as the Firewheel Tree Stenocarpus sinuatus,

Planting the Queensland Bottle Tree translocated from the RBG Sydney. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

create an additional splash of colour to establish the entrance into the building.

Sandstone swales tested during flood event in 2022.

Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

Looking into the sunken garden featuring S. sinuatus, B. citriodora, E. eumundi, Golden Wattle Acacia longifolia and Small-Fruit Fan-Flower Scaevola albida. Credit: Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan

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Hero species in our garden landscape For many reasons plants become heroes to horticulturists. A landscape of this size has thrown up many challenges, leading to both success and failure. Some species have performed so well they deserve a special mention: • B. rupestris: translocated from the RBGS, where it had been planted in 2015. In 2021 it was moved to its new home in Mount Annan. It now stands tall, as one of the great features of the landscape.

• The native turf grass Zoysia macrantha ‘Stockade’: selected after a couple of years trialling the grass in two locations within the garden at Mount Annan. Native lawns are uncommon, partly because native grasses don’t tolerate the wear and tear we inflict upon them. Z. macrantha has been performing well and shows much promise. It gives considerable warmth to the main space outside the herbarium and has sparked a lot of interest as one of the larger native lawns in NSW. • The Tall Sedge Carex appresa: a saving grace within the landscape. Its vibrant green foliage helps it to ‘pop’ in the landscape. The consistent wet weather has seen it thrive while some of our other tough nuts have failed. This superhero species is from the Central Coast region of NSW. • G. kennedyana: originates from the southwestern side of Mount Wood, originally collected in 2000. This beautiful grevillea spent several years in the western garden before being hand‑selected for display within the newly constructed Brachychiton tree pit. It grows happily, flexing its appealing grey foliage, which contrasts nicely with the surrounding environment.

• Christmas Bells Blandfordia grandiflora: from Gibraltar Range National Park. Several species were introduced to the newly constructed rain gardens. Inconspicuous in the landscape, these plants are thriving in the moist sandy soil and will be stunners when flowering.

• G. parviflora: it has legendary status within the garden, which has a mature specimen propagated from material collected in 2006 from Coonabarabran, north-west NSW. With its unique trademark drooping branches, dark and glossy narrow lance-shaped leaves and pleasant-smelling bark, we are looking forward to these trees maturing as they will become a significant feature.

• D. antarctica: this Jurassic species has given height and depth to the garden, which assisted with providing a microclimate for other sun-sensitive species.

• Peperomia blanda var. floribunda: this small herb sits neatly in the front of the fern beds, displaying beautiful, succulent, dark green leaves.

• Wollemi Pine Wollemia nobilis (prostrate form): these beautiful specimens sit right outside the front door of the herbarium and are real head-turners. Not only are they extremely interesting, but they also perfectly link the garden’s scientific work with horticulture.

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Feature Garden • Cat’s Whiskers Orthosiphon aristatus: a strong performer putting on a great show with its beautiful flowers. Otherwise known as Java Tea, a popular herbal remedy, this species is widely distributed. In NSW it is found growing in gaps within rainforests, chiefly in the Gosford district, but also near Narooma on the south coast.

• Several of the advanced trees surrounding the sunken garden: • Lemon Myrtle Backhousia citriodora • Kurrajong Tree Brachychiton populneus × acerifolius • Ivory Curl Flower Buckinghamia celsissima • Eumundi Quandong Elaeocarpus eumundi • Native Frangipani Hymenosporum flavum • Brush Box Lophostemon confertus • Kanooka Gum Tristaniopsis laurina ‘DOW10’ PBR Luscious® • Weeping Lilly Pilly Waterhousea floribunda ‘Amaroo’ • Tulipwood Harpulia pendula • Firewheel Tree, Stenocarpus sinuatus.

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FEATURE ARTICLES

Introducing the Tasmanian Flora Entry Zone Chris Lang, Curator Tasmanian Flora, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

The Tasmanian Native Collection and adjacent areas have undergone substantial change following long-held plans to redevelop Tasmanian flora displays through the northern region of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens (RTBG). A significant landscaping effort, which started in September 2020, has resulted in the establishment of the new Tasmanian Flora Entry Zone, known in-house as the Entry Zone.

The Entry Zone was deemed a priority for redevelopment following a severe storm

Entry Zone landscape works about to commence.

Credit: Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

event that struck the gardens during May 2018. Thirteen mature trees were lost during the storm, including a large Ponderosa Pine Pinus ponderosa specimen that fell across the subalpine/scree area of the Tasmanian Native Section.

This resulted in the loss of a significant number of valuable specimens, including some of the largest Pencil Pines Athrotaxis spp. in cultivation.

Our aim was to establish a display of Tasmanian native plants in a contemporary setting rather than trying to replicate natural bush landscapes. To help achieve this, a local landscaping contractor was employed to transform a previously uninspiring sloping site, with poorly drained heavy black clay soil, into a visually engaging landscape that supports the healthy growth of a broad range of Tasmanian native plant species with varying cultural requirements.

Officially opened on 21 December 2021, the Entry Zone functions as a welcoming introductory experience for visitors as they embark upon an informative and educational journey of discovery through our Tasmanian Flora Collection.

The new development is a landscape of two distinct styles – plantings, with a focus on natural habitat, transition within a relatively short distance to a contrasting formal space. Visitors make their way along a meandering gravel path through plantings reminiscent of Tasmania’s cool

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temperate rainforest, where combinations of iconic rainforest/wet forest species (such as Huon Pine Lagarostrobos franklinii, Sassafras Atherosperma moschatum, CeleryTop Pine Phyllocladus aspleniifolius and Pandani Richea pandanifolia subsp. pandanifolia) combine with a lush, ferny understorey. Additional plantings of Myrtle Beech Nothofagus cunninghamii in this area flank the pathway, which will ultimately allow visitors to walk beneath their broad, cathedral-like canopies. The inclusion of a 50-metre-long boardwalk across a previously inaccessible area provides visitors with the opportunity to undertake an intimate journey through a serene rainforest-like environment.

Bronze Deciduous Beech Nothofagus gunnii leaves provide a sculptural introduction to the Entry Zone.

Credit: Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

Funding for the Ornamental Horticulture Presentation Space Funding for the Ornamental Horticulture Presentation Space was made available through a successful Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust grant application.

The Trust, based in the United States, supports projects centred on education and research in ornamental horticulture through grants to botanical gardens, arboreta, universities, and other charitable organisations strongly aligned with its funding interests. Funding is provided for projects in North America, South America, Central America, the

The boardwalk weaves its way through plantings reminiscent of Tasmania’s iconic cool temperate rainforest. Credit: Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

Caribbean and more recently, Australia and New Zealand. Stanley Smith (1907–1968) was a philanthropic Australian businessperson with a passion for ornamental horticulture.

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Following the naturalistic setting of the rainforest/ wet forest is the Ornamental Horticulture Presentation Space, where refreshing expressions of formal design principles such as hedging, espalier and topiary shapes will be displayed in a practical, functional space. We are keen to demonstrate that carefully selected Tasmanian native species can withstand rigorous horticultural practices and be used in a variety of ways to achieve the desired effects. Species selected will mostly be those that have proven to perform well at the gardens, including some that will be trialled for use in a different way, such as the espaliering of Dagger Wattle Acacia siculiformis and Banksia marginata ‘Coastal Spread’. The new garden also features plants in

The Ornamental Horticulture Presentation Space aims to further demonstrate the flexibility and versatility of Tasmanian natives in cultivation.

Credit: Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

a variety of containers to further demonstrate the versatility of Tasmanian species suited to containerised approaches in gardens, large and small.

Permanent container specimens will be placed in this area, along with plants that have seasonal interest, cycled through from our nursery to ensure there is always something new and interesting on display. The Ornamental Horticulture Presentation Space provides an open, hard-surfaced area with seating to comfortably accommodate larger group gatherings for educational purposes.

This enables both staff and trained volunteer guide educators to deliver presentations on a range of Tasmanian native flora-themed topics, including the methods and techniques required to successfully grow Tasmanian native plants in cultivation.

We are keen to demonstrate that carefully selected Tasmanian native species can withstand rigorous horticultural practices and be used in a variety of ways to achieve the desired effects.

In common with any themed collection in a botanic garden, we want visitors to walk away with a better understanding and greater appreciation of Tasmania’s indigenous flora. This is aided by the establishment of meaningful, engaging interpretation presenting a range of topics and messages throughout the collection. Importantly, interpreting the amazing qualities of species and their place in the wild, as well as demonstrating their horticultural worth, helps better connect Tasmanians to their local indigenous flora and the need to conserve it. The suite of new interpretation includes six thematically shaped larger panels presenting a variety of information such as Tasmania’s Gondwanan links, fern facts and where to see species in the wild. Icon labels highlight the special

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Feature Articles qualities of a select number of key species such as Huon Pine Lagarostrobos franklinii, King Billy Pine Athrotaxis selaginoides and Leatherwood Eucryphia lucida. Indigenous plant-use labels describe the use of plants by thousands of generations of Tasmanian First Nations People for food, medicine and technology (such as shelter, weapons and traps). The introduction of redesigned plant name labels hanging from decorative, stainless-steel stakes constitutes the initial rollout of a new approach to standard plant name labelling across the RTBG. Successful implementation of the Entry Zone has been highly dependent on staff contributing skills, knowledge and physical input along the way – it has been a truly collaborative effort.

And if the interest and enthusiasm demonstrated by those experiencing the site is anything to go by, this effort was thoroughly worthwhile. Inspired by what they see, visitors are pausing, looking and searching for more as they move at a noticeably slower pace through a more inviting and engaging horticultural landscape.

A suite of new interpretive panels and plant labels have been placed throughout the collection.

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Feature Articles

Celebrating Autumn in Perth with a new workshop series Amanda Shade, Collections and Development manager, Kings Park and Botanic Garden

At Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth we have a long history of developing horticulturally and botanically themed workshops and related activities in September to coincide with our spring festival. Traditionally, this is the best time of year to showcase the incredibly diverse Western Australian flora, and when we usually see an influx of tourists to the state and the botanic garden – at least in pre-COVID times! We realised, however, that autumn was

Amanda Shade.

Credit: C. Sprogoe

perhaps an equally important time of year to be developing a program of events. Autumn in Perth – or Djeran in local south-west Noongar culture – generally signals a welcome relief to the end of summer, with many people redirecting their gardening focus from ‘survival’ mode to more considered enjoyment and involvement in their gardens.

This year Perth sweltered through its hottest summer on record, and autumn was eagerly anticipated by many people. We decided to celebrate the end of this challenging summer by developing a new and exciting autumn series of events. These included workshops, guided walks and other activities designed to celebrate the botanic garden, promote Western Australian native flora, and encourage people to connect with their gardens and green spaces.

We deliberately selected two botanically significant days to bookend the series, with the launch on National Eucalypt Day (23 March) and the series culminating on Botanic Gardens Day (29 May).

Events on National Eucalypt Day included specially curated walks showcasing lesser‑known small eucalypts suitable for use in managed landscapes, followed by a special presentation by renowned ‘eucalyptologist’ Malcolm French. Malcolm was awarded the 2022 Dahl Medal by Eucalypt Australia

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Kings Park Arboriculture Curator Chelsea Payne describes the ornamental features of the threatened Rose Mallee Eucalyptus rhodantha on National Eucalypt Day. Credit: David Blumer

during his very popular talk (see ‘National Eucalypt Day and the Eucalypt of the Year’ in this issue for more details). Feedback from industry was very positive for this initiative, with one long-term industry professional commenting, ‘Just wanted to say how great this walk, and talk, was yesterday. The Kings Park team did a brilliant job and there is a strong future in collaborating with industry to get more suitable native plants into the landscape. I feel bad that after this length of time in the industry my knowledge is clearly lacking on some of these great species.’

The avenue of Lemon Scented Gums Corymbia citriodora overlooking Perth city and the Swan River turned green in celebration of National Eucalypt Day. Credit: David Blumer

That evening we also switched on the uplights under our famous Corymbia citriodora-lined Fraser Avenue to shine green in celebration of this day.

Various workshops were developed with a focus on promoting our flora and providing people with inspiration around how to prepare their gardens for winter planting.

We concentrated on how to select climateresilient local flora and looked at alternative ways of growing plants in different conditions. These workshops were targeted

Container gardening using Western Australian natives was a popular workshop for people with small backyards. Credit: David Blumer

at both the home gardener and industry professionals, and included topics such as container gardening with natives, designing native gardens for shaded areas and ‘micro-gardens’ in plant bowls. Horticultural techniques were also covered, with specialist pruning workshops run by our skilled arboriculture team, and our equally talented nursery team delivering propagation and grafting workshops. These types of workshops are always popular as they facilitate the learning of new skills while also allowing a sneak-peek into the behind-the-scenes operations of what is involved in managing a botanic garden.

To celebrate the Mother’s Day weekend, we held a flower arranging workshop using Western Australian natives. We encouraged people to come along with their mothers to enjoy an afternoon of learning about ‘floristry friendly’ species to plant in their gardens. Participants then created their own amazing arrangements and ended the workshop with a special afternoon tea.

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We recognise that people often have very different reasons for wanting certain plants in their gardens. Plants that are suitable for floristry and flower arranging appear to be an increasingly popular choice.

More specially curated walks were offered during this series, including taxonomic walks on Botanic Gardens Day. These explored and explained some of the diverse names of highlighted Western Australian flora and provided an opportunity to promote the importance of botanic gardens, the work they contribute, and the role they play in our lives.

In celebration of Botanic Gardens Day we also developed a video around the theme of ‘A Day in the Life of a Botanic Garden’. This was created for use on our website and social media channels and released in early May. This short video stars many Kings Park staff members from all our various

The diversity of bold colours and shapes of many Western Australian natives make them perfect for flower arranging.

Credit: Amanda Shade

horticulture and conservation teams showing the kind of work they undertake in their different roles – and how they all work together to manage a successful and inspiring botanic garden.

Overall, the autumn workshop series proved to be a popular undertaking, with good uptake and support by the public, industry members, staff and volunteers. These kinds of activities also provide an invaluable opportunity for our team members to become involved with and often help them develop confidence in their public speaking and presenting skills. We have already identified many opportunities to develop these programs further into the future, utilising different technologies to reach a greater audience with our botanic garden message, and to develop closer links with industry to broaden Western Australian flora knowledge and encourage its use and appreciation.

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Taxonomic walks featured many interesting species and explanations behind their naming.

This Eneabba Mallee Eucalyptus × impensa is a naturally occurring hybrid, with impensa deriving from the Latin for large or strong, in reference to the leaves and fruit.

Credit: David Blumer

POLLINATING GREAT IDEAS

A fresh direction for the Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden Jennifer Waithman, Environmental Interpretation Officer, Sunshine Coast Council The Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden (MRBBG) has recently completed its first interpretive strategy. This strategy will guide the development of a full suite of interpretive services, from non-personal to personal interpretive products and programs.

Brisbane-based consultancy Storyflight, run by Jen York and Bec Fitzpatrick, was contracted by the Sunshine Coast Council to engage with our internal and external stakeholders to guide us through the planning process. This process took five months, from November 2021 to March 2022.

Interpretive planning includes input from a variety of internal and external stakeholders. We wanted to give a voice to all who support the various components of the interpretive program at MRBBG. These components include guided walks, events, artistic exhibitions and children’s holiday programs. The initial two-day site visit provided stakeholders with an opportunity to meet the Storyflight team and share their perspectives on MRBBG. Storyflight followed up with personal interviews with stakeholders, including the garden’s Friends group, regional tourism industries and local universities. This provided a baseline of information for Storyflight to create an initial draft.

We then conducted an online workshop with multiple stakeholders, including a representative of First Nations People, to obtain comments and feedback on the initial draft strategy. The draft was available for open comment after the workshop for those who were unable to attend.

The final working draft was well received by our internal and external stakeholders. We are now in the process of formally working with the traditional owners of the land on which the garden is situated to further explore and incorporate their priorities and key messages into the interpretive plan.

This process has allowed our internal and external stakeholders to share their insight and to comment on how we progress with interpretation at MRBBG with one shared vision. The plan acts as a roadmap for telling the garden’s stories in the most effective and compelling ways, to further the community’s understanding and connection to MRBBG, now and in the future.

A family using our Whipbird Village/Walk area.

Credit: Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden

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Importing endangered Engelmann oaks during a pandemic Jo Brennan, Horticulturist (Horticulture), Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Melbourne Gardens Lying in trays of seed-raising mix in the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) Melbourne Gardens nursery are 99 unassuming Quercus engelmannii acorns. They are special, however, because they are an endangered species, and it has taken five months of collaboration with the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden (the arboretum) and the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment (DAWE) to get them here.

More excitingly, some have survived transit and prescribed biosecurity treatments and are starting to germinate.

All going well, they will be ready to plant in our Oak and North American Dryland Collections in June.

Importation challenges

Quercus engelmannii radicle.

Credit: Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

The oak collection within the RBGV dates from around 1862 and features numerous old and venerable specimens, many of which would have been brought into Australia as acorns stowed in the pockets or suitcases of avid collectors. Others no doubt made their way through the postal service without impediment. More recently, Australia’s stringent biosecurity laws have imposed strict controls on the importation of seed in general, and with good reason – who wants to accidentally introduce Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum) or Khapra Beetle (Trogoderma granarium) to our shores? This, however, makes obtaining wild-collected material from overseas far more complicated and time consuming. Importing acorns is even more complex – they are desiccation-sensitive, so minimising storage and transit time is crucial. They must also be fumigated with phosphine or undergo cold treatment at −18 ˚C, both of which can add between 10 days and three weeks to their journey. Given that Quercus are recalcitrant species and generally do not survive freezing below −10 ˚C, the latter is a high-risk option. The effect of phosphine gas on acorns is not well documented but has also raised concerns. Add in potential disruptions to freight services, staff absences due to COVID-19 and the busy holiday season (including Thanksgiving and Christmas) and you would be forgiven for wondering why anyone would attempt to bring in acorns during a pandemic!

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Pollinating Great Ideas An opportunity to conserve rare oaks: an intersection of projects For the last three years, my colleagues and I have been working with San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG) to procure wild-collected seed for our North American Drylands Collection, in exchange for rare and interesting Victorian species. During their recent summer and autumn, staff from SDBG collected seed from 11 species on our target list. This wish list comprises southern Californian plants identified by climate modelling as likely to survive Melbourne’s projected increase of 3 ˚C in mean annual temperature over the next 50 years. They are also on the DAWE’s Permitted Seeds list – those not on the list are subject to even more stringent import conditions and biosecurity measures.

Among the seed collected by SDBG were acorns from two rare and endangered shrub oaks.

Around the same time, the curator of our oak collection, Peter Berbee, was offered several other endangered species through his engagement with the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak, of which SDBG is a member. Given that plant conservation is a priority for the RBGV, we jumped at the opportunity to import them all. SDBG kindly volunteered to gather and forward the acorns from the various donor institutions, along with their own, however, the arboretum had Quercus engelmannii acorns ready and waiting to go before the others. Keen to expand the ex situ conservation of this endangered species, a remnant population of which features in the arboretum, curator of living collections Jim Henrich generously proposed that he ship them separately. So began our collaboration with the arboretum and DAWE.

The perils facing Quercus engelmannii Quercus engelmannii is a fascinating species. It belongs to an ancient lineage of Mexican oaks and has persisted since northern Mexico’s and southern California’s climates were subtropical with monsoonal summer rains. Its range later contracted due to various pressures, not least the increasingly long, dry summers characteristic of this region’s mediterranean climate. As climate change intensifies, the range of Q. engelmannii is expected to further decline. Urban development, livestock grazing, altered fire regimes and pest incursions are also responsible for Q. engelmannii death and low recruitment levels, resulting in its designation as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). San Diego County has 95% of the remnant trees while small populations remain dotted around Los Angeles and Baja California. Luckily, its plight is now well recognised and various organisations, including the arboretum and SDBG, are directing their efforts towards both in situ and ex situ conservation.

As climate change intensifies, the range of Quercus engelmannii is expected to further decline.

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Navigating the acorn importation process While navigating plant importation requirements is no doubt straightforward for a seasoned importer, it presented a steep learning curve for me.

Ensuring both state and federal biosecurity conditions were met, and that the air freight company selected would process our precious cargo as quickly as possible, involved a great deal of research and countless phones calls. Slotting this into my core work as a horticulturist was

Peter Berbee (oak collection curator) and Jo Brennan (North American Drylands curator) with newly arrived acorns. Credit: Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

more of a challenge than expected given the time-sensitive nature of the task. Thankfully the plant division of the DAWE arranged a meeting with me to explain the importation process for small seed lots. Furthermore, they kindly offered to facilitate the acorns’ treatment and transit on arrival, in recognition of the important role that botanic gardens play in species conservation. A lack of commercial operators able to cold-treat small parcels meant a special arrangement was devised with the Mickleham Post Entry Quarantine Facility. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Jim Henrich diligently navigated the phytosanitary certification process and Australia’s documentary requirements, a first for him also.

Surviving shipping and biosecurity treatments In early February 2022, Jim Henrich packaged up the acorns and sent them on their way, with fingers crossed that they wouldn’t end up sweltering in a warehouse while awaiting customs clearance and transit. Given the extended drought in Los Angeles, we also feared that a number would contain larvae that were undetectable to the eye but would render the acorns unviable: fewer acorns are produced in dry years, meaning they are more likely to host larvae.

This underscores the importance of biosecurity treatments. In the spirit of experimentation, we opted to fumigate half with phosphine while cold-treating the rest. Interestingly, a few acorns had begun to germinate on arrival at Mickleham, Victoria: they were alive but were yet to be frozen. After treatment and

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Quercus engelmannii seedling. Credit: Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

Pollinating Great Ideas collection from quarantine the acorns were potted into trays, and we held our breath. Five months had passed since collection and some of the acorns rattled when sown, suggesting desiccation.

After two excruciating weeks, we discovered bright, healthy radicles emerging from several acorns.

We have now potted up 22 and hope that a few more will germinate in the coming weeks. All were treated with phosphine. The frozen acorns show no sign of germinating.

From little things big things grow Enhancing the climate change resilience of our collections and increasing our holdings of wild‑collected material, for scientific and conservation benefit, are stated goals of both our Living Collections Plan and Landscape Succession Strategy. Quercus engelmannii ticks all the plant selection criteria for our Oak and North American Drylands collections – conservation, education, climate suitability and aesthetic value. Research suggests that Q. engelmannii will flourish with our summer storms and higher rainfall. As always, we will need to monitor for any adverse effects of cooler temperatures, great water availability and interactions with other critters in their new homes. To insure against failure and promote their conservation more broadly, we intend to share any excess seedlings with other well-suited botanic gardens. Q. engelmannii is just the beginning – now that we have a greater understanding of the importation process and time commitment involved, we hope to continue bringing in rare and threatened species, starting with the other endangered oaks already on offer.

Quercus engelmannii is just the beginning... we hope to continue bringing in rare and threatened species.

References C Carrero, D Jerome, E Beckman, A Byrne, AJ Coombes, M Deng et al. The Red List of Oaks 2020.

The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, IL, 2020. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346934290_The_ Red_List_of_Oaks_2020 J Henrich. The Most Majestic California Oak, Pacific Horticulture website https://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/the-most-majestic-southern-california-oak/ E Meyer, N Jensen, N Fraga. Seed banking California’s rare plants. California Fish and Game, 2014, 100(1): 79–85. https://www.caplantrescue.org/uploads/1/0/2/7/102741700/meyer_etal_2014.pdf

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BOOK REVIEWS

Celebrating Regional Biodiversity: Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens, Rosser Park by Kate Heffernan Reviewed by Lynette Reilly, Friends of the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens This inspiring book details the fascinating journey of this 31-ha site, coming almost full circle from a heavily vegetated natural area frequented by the region’s First Nations People, through a period of economic growth with sugar cane farming then small holdings, to the current botanic garden featuring regional flora.

The book’s foreword is by Lawrie Smith AM, Principal Landscape Architect and Master Planner of the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens (GCRBG).

Lynette Reilly

The author, Kate Heffernan, is uniquely qualified to write on this topic. She was a horticulture and garden design lecturer for 20 years, as well as a professional botanical consultant. Kate was also the founding member of the GCRBG. Since 1998, her passion, drive and commitment has contributed to the formation of the gardens and its continuing growth and recognition. A former garden presenter for ABC Gold Coast, Kate has been a feature writer for horticulture and landscape professional journals and has led garden tours in Australia and overseas. She is a past chair of the Queensland branch of BGANZ and past state representative to the national BGANZ Congress. She says her proudest achievement is her involvement in these gardens. She is an honorary life member of the Friends of the gardens.

Kate has been a feature writer for horticulture and landscape professional journals and has led garden tours in Australia and overseas.

The book has 100 pages and over 250 photographs and is described by Alex Jakimoff, Friends president, as ‘images of tranquillity, of people and plants, and of a community creating something wonderful.’

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A dip into the book’s contents shows how the gardens’ displays promote and conserve the region’s flora, blending science, education, horticulture and conservation with social justice, recreation and pleasure. The contents include: • Gold Coast city: one of most biodiverse in Australia, with some flora growing at the northern limits of the temperate zone and others at the southern limits of the sub-tropic zone.

The gardens display and conserve this unique and diverse flora – a result of variable climatic conditions, landforms shaped by the might of a volcano and sea level changes • Early history, from First Nations Peoples to James Cook and early settlers

Closed-forest gorge, GC Regional Botanic Gardens.

Credit: Kate Heffernan

• Living legends: veteran trees in the gardens and those planted by pioneers in the mid-1860s • The rich heritage of the Rosser family: in 1969 patron Gene Rosser’s family gave the original land to the community for environmental purposes. Heritage values of the Rosser home garden are priceless amid the modern Gold Coast city • Steps in founding the Friends association, and the prolonged process to agreement by the City Council for a local botanic garden • Granting Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status for the Friends, and the gardens becoming a regional botanical garden, with a high percentage of its plants being regional natives, especially those rare, endangered, vulnerable and of city-wide significance

Kate Heffernan and Lawrie Smith AM (Master Planner of the Gardens). Credit: Kate Heffernan

• The Herbarium • Plant collection precincts (of which there are 22)

• The Story of our Country precinct, which conserves Indigenous heritage.

This is not a dry history but one that comes to life through Kate’s compelling writing and enriching photographs.

Overall impression – a must-have for anyone interested in botanic gardens in general and the Gold Coast’s Regional Botanic Gardens in particular.

Published by Kate Heffernan in 2020, ISBN 9780646828374. Available from the Friends Centre.

RRP $39, Members’ price $34. Email info@friendsgcrbg.org.au or phone 0449 561 674 for order and postage details. All profits from sales go to Friends GCRBG.

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The Amazing Case of Dr Ward

by Jackie Kerin and Tull Suwannakit Reviewed by Loraine Callow, Program Development Officer, Williamstown Botanic Gardens, Victoria When you peel a banana, bite into a pear, when you smell a rose, pop a fuchsia bud, or scrape your knee climbing an old pine tree, do you ever wonder how these plants came to this country?

This is the question author Jackie Kerin poses in the story of The Amazing Case of Dr Ward.

Intrigued by ‘exotic’ plants and with a passion for endemic landscape, Jackie explains what seeded the idea for her book, ‘I was listening to an Acknowledgment of Country being delivered in a park in Melbourne by Wemba Wemba‑Wergaia man, Dean Stewart. While Dean created in our minds the landscape of the Indigenous past, in reality there was not an Australian plant in sight. The land that surrounded me had been altered irrevocably.

Was this change incremental, or was it swift?’

A little digging and Jackie stumbled into the story of the Wardian case – a glass and wooden box – that changed the world. And the answer to her question – the change was ‘swift.’

Dr Nathanial Bagshaw Ward was an English doctor and a passionate plant collector. However, the smog-filled air of his London home thwarted his plant-growing passion and he was limited to cultivating plants under glass. Meanwhile, it came to Dr Ward’s attention that others were having problems with their plants on board ships where salt spray, rather than smog, was the problem.

It was a time of imperial expansion on a scale previously unimaginable and the transportation of plants was critical to the success of the remote colonies and the establishment of exotic plants in England. Dr Ward trialled various schemes in his home in the East End. Then, in 1833, with the help of his friend, Captain Mallard, he planned a decisive experiment sending plants in glass cases from London to the Sydney Botanic Gardens, and back again.

The trial was a triumph. Within months, Wardian Cases, filled with plants, were being delivered around the globe; gardens, farms and landscapes would be transformed forever.

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Book Reviews

Dr Ward wrote of his experiments with plants in his book On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases, first published in 18421. It is from this book that Jackie has drawn out the bones of the story for children.

As we review cultural institutions through a contemporary lens that seeks to acknowledge the impact of imperial expansion, the book can act as a timely and gentle discussion starter. There are, of course, many more complex angles than can be squeezed into a 32-page picture book for children: how the worldwide plant trade intersected with slavery, the introduction and impact of weed species, pathogens and invasive insects, to name a few. But Jackie’s purpose in writing The Amazing Case of Dr Ward is clear, ‘I wish to draw children into the botanical realm, ignite their curiosity and inspire closer observation as well as foster a love of plants and their rich and varied histories.’

Tull Suwannakit’s illustrations for The Amazing Case of Dr Ward add warmth and humour to the vivid storytelling. With a background in animation, Tull has breathed life and personality into the protagonists, matching the lively text with characters that promise to engage young readers.

For the budding botanist, he has managed to fill the pages with over 60 identifiable plants!

This charming book is a great resource for any educator’s kit bag and a welcome and sure to be much-loved addition to any story time bookshelf.

Tull has breathed life and personality into the protagonists, matching the lively text with characters that promise to engage young readers.

The Amazing Case of Dr Ward was released in March 2021 and is available for order from Ford Street Publishing along with free, extensive, downloadable teaching notes and activities. https://fordstreetpublishing.com/book/the-amazing-case-of-dr-ward/

1 The Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria holds an autographed copy of Dr Ward’s book gifted to Ferdinand von Mueller. Free digitised copies are accessible online.

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PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS

What makes a botanic garden a botanic garden? BCARM has (some of) the answers!

John Sandham, Collections Development Officer, Botanic Garden and State Herbarium, South Australia What makes a botanic garden a botanic garden? What are the values that differentiate your botanic garden from just a normal garden?

My aim is to begin to answer the above questions while extending a friendly and supportive hand to all from the BGANZ Botanic Collections and Record Management (BCARM) working group.

This gesture is to all of you out there who are challenged by your living collections. I hope to assist you in understanding why you

John Sandham

have inherited your plants and their importance to your garden’s future.

It is hoped that a wider group of like-minded professionals, like yourselves, will encourage dialogue between the botanic garden management and their horticultural staff, and develop consultation with the broader staff, including the botanical, educational, technical and interpretive officers.

The diversity of botanic gardens and their collections within the BGANZ network is complex, with differing climates, terrains and topography. This network is respected as a botanical collective unequalled in our region, or even globally. The need to value and respect our collections by constantly evaluating them for current security, for their possible modification and for future development is essential.

Neither the planning of nor the reasons for particular collections have always been documented formally. A clear direction for all botanic gardens needs to be established to reflect the changes in social, cultural and scientific attitudes. This can only be achieved by a well-defined but flexible policy that reflects the individuality and the uniqueness of our gardens.

Categories and principles required to define and evaluate living collections may be wide and varied.

They provide a methodical and consistent procedure, however, that allows us to follow a systematic strategy for all our existing and future collections.

These values must also reflect our changing world, which includes international agreements in plant procurement, challenges that arise from climate change, and the continual battle we all have with controlling decimating pests and diseases. The latter relates especially to the wider environment and the future weeds we may unknowingly hold in our collections.

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We need to consider the value of each collection to the overall displays and their interpretation. Some collections will have valuable taxa of varying status, such as rare or threatened in the wild, or a unique horticultural value, which should be respected when planning collections to ensure their security.

We need to consider the value of each collection to the overall displays and their interpretation.

The autumn colour at Mount Lofty BG. Credit: Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium of South Australia, Environment, Heritage and Sustainability Division, Department for Environment and Water

The importance of interactions between these scientific collections and their landscaping and aesthetic potential for the garden sites is also important to sustain our appeal to our visitors.

That visitors should have easy access to the interpretation of each collection must also be respected in future strategies.

The following are suggested categories for consideration, which could reflect your primary themes for the collections. Collections may fall into one or more of the categories. This multi-layered approach to your existing collections adds to their potential for interpretation and research. It is worth noting that collections do not have to be displayed in these themes but can capture their elements and values, while displaying plants in an engaging way to capture our visitors’ interest and inspire a love of plants. Collections may have an education, research and conservation goal, as well as significance in other botanical themes. This will support the long-term relevance of collections in your botanic garden and will ensure acquisition to those collections is clearly defined.

The seven suggested categories for consideration are as follows.

1. Geographical • a collection or display of plants based on a defined geographical area • a good representation of endemic plants found in a defined region • plants from key vegetation regions • plants with biogeographical connections • plants of cultural significance to a region • regional floras of similar environmental conditions • geographical areas not represented in other Australian botanic gardens

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Professional Networks 2. Biological and ecological This involves collections and displays of plants which grow together in biological or ecological communities defined by a particular range of environmental conditions, such as: • representatives of habitats existing or manufactured • characteristic plant associations of a particular ecological community – species interaction • the association between plants as found in their natural environment and the details of these habitats – subtle landscape differences 3. Taxonomic and evolutionary This involves a collection of plants which demonstrates principles of plant classification and evolution, such as: • plants demonstrating selected principles or features of plant classification or evolution • plants from a defined taxonomic group • plants which show diagnostic features of a particular group • a reference collection of particular plant taxa • collections relating to evolutionary adaptations 4. Ornamental and landscape This involves a collection of plants grown for their ornamental and landscape qualities, such as: • traditional or modern horticultural themes • hybrids, cultivars and species grown for horticultural interest or display • plants which are important to the landscapes that do not fit into any other categories 5. Historical and cultural This involves plants which display aesthetic, scientific, historical or social values for past and present generations, such as: • plants that have heritage associations including those that may be re-introduced • plants which are remnants of the original vegetation before the garden sites were developed • plants of the original design intent • plants which are linked to the past and present in terms of their use • plants which are used by cultural groups • plants of economic importance

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6. Conservation This involves plants which require protection due to their status in line with state, national or international conservation strategies. Threatened species and remnant vegetation may be highlighted. This will also cover the conservation of old cultivars and ornamental plant collections and includes: • sufficient stock of known-provenance plants to maintain a viable collection of rare or threatened plants in conjunction with other botanic gardens or institutions • extant plants that are endangered in Australia, New Zealand or overseas • remnant vegetation • plantings which convey a conservation message 7. Research collections This involves plant collections which demonstrate or are assembled for scientific research, such as: • plants related to current research projects undertaken by internal staff or in collaboration with other organisations • plants that have been used in the past for research by internal or other organisations • evaluation of plants for introduction for horticultural or landscape use.

Your garden may have other categories that BCARM would embrace as part of future dialogue.

In this case, they will need evaluation procedures, carried out by horticultural operations staff and higher management. These reviews will record all collections your botanic garden holds, their display status, and their future strategies and limitations.

The Palm House containing the dry arid Madagascan collection in Adelaide BG. Credit: Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium of South Australia, Environment, Heritage and Sustainability Division, Department for Environment and Water

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Wittunga Botanic Garden with the South African Proteaceae Terraces. Credit: Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium of South Australia, Environment, Heritage and Sustainability Division, Department for Environment and Water

Professional Networks Any acquisitions must follow the criteria set down in your adopted policy along with the instigation of new collections. These new acquisitions must also be properly accessioned, so you know everything about the new additions. This will include the provenance of the material and in what plant form it was received.

A complete understanding of current local, national and international agreements or legislation, and their requirements, is essential to ensure any new procurement to your collection is valid and doesn’t contravene any of the above criteria.

There is of course a need to follow the appropriate biosecurity procedures to protect your environment from pests and diseases and stop the introduction of new weed species. There are also two main international agreements that you should be aware of, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

It is also important that your adopted policy records your discarded collections and the reasons behind these actions, along with the proper recording of the de-accessioned species. This provides valuable information for future staff about the performance of plants in your garden and ensures successful future plantings.

All the above need to run concurrently with your plant records. This article stresses the importance of a good plant database and record management and how they are a vital part of the process.

This is another initiative from BCARM in which it wants to support and share its collective wisdom with other botanic gardens.

Some gardens have basic spreadsheets while others may have invested in one of the many plant record systems available worldwide. Some of these packages have high upfront costs and ongoing annual fees that may not suit all gardens. BGANZ, through BCARM, has seen the need for a more affordable system. After an extensive tender process, BCARM recently announced ‘Hortis’ as our preferred plant database system. BGANZ has negotiated a great deal for all members, who can take advantage of special rates in the first year of sign up. With six gardens already on board, I encourage all member gardens to have an in-depth look at this new software from Botanical Software, part of the Candide group. For more information, please see the article Moving to Hortis: Cairns Botanic Garden shares their experience in this issue.

If this article has interested you and you would like to assist BGANZ further, we invite you to become part of the conversation. Feel free to join us and become an active member of BCARM. Please contact BCARM chair Emma Simpkins (emma.simpkins@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz) and let her know you’re interested.

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Fighting myrtle rust with gardens’ data: which Myrtaceae already live in ex situ collections?

Damian Wrigley, National Coordinator, Australian Seed Bank Partnership; Brett Summerell, Chief Scientist and Director Research, Australian Institute of Botanical Science, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney; John Arnott, Manager of Horticulture, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Cranbourne and Emma Simpkins, Botanical Records and Conservation Officer, Auckland Botanic Gardens Australian botanic gardens, their nurseries and seed banks hold diverse collections of native plants and germplasm, including many iconic species within the family Myrtaceae.

Well-known Australian plants such as the lilly pillies, bottlebrushes, paperbarks and tea trees fall within this family, along with many others, conjuring images of some of the rich and diverse forests, swamps and coastal scrub where members of the family can be encountered.

Myrtaceae also includes the iconic eucalyptus, a genus synonymous with the Australian landscape, possessing a wealth of species diversity and high levels of endemism.

This diversity and endemism across the eucalypts can be seen reflected, at least partially, in the living collections of botanic gardens, where morphological distinctions between species are often relied upon to highlight and illustrate the genetic complexity within the genus.

Such collections, including those of other Myrtaceae,

Melaleuca quinquenervia heavily infected with myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii). Credit: Geoff Pegg

require targeted curation and long-term strategic management to maintain their health, rigour and relevance to public programs and conservation priorities. It would simply not be feasible to replicate these gardens’ displays for all native Myrtaceae, particularly when it is estimated that over 80 genera within the family are endemic to Australia (Makinson et. al. 2020).

With so many endemic Myrtaceae in Australia, alternative options for conserving them ex situ are needed. Many species not on display are already kept secure for the short-term in botanic gardens’ nurseries, while other, more orthodox species rely on seed banks to provide a longer‑term storage solution. Those species already secured ex situ in Australia and overseas in botanic gardens, nurseries and seed banks may be some of the luckiest family members.

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Professional Networks With multiple human-induced pressures threatening the entire Australian flora, native plant species continue to be formally listed under federal, state and territory threatened species legislation at an alarming rate. On top of these cumulative threats, one clear and present danger is placing many species within the Myrtaceae at heightened risk of extinction, and this threat is spreading throughout the east coast and across the continent at a rapid rate.

One clear and present danger is placing many species within the Myrtaceae at heightened risk of extinction.

Myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii) is a fungal pathogen known to have arrived in Australia in 2010.

It spread rapidly throughout the east coast of Australia and east to New Zealand, presenting a major threat to the ability of many Australian species in the family Myrtaceae to survive and reproduce (Makinson et. al. 2020). The arrival of myrtle rust has had a significant and detrimental impact on flora, prompting many to undertake extensive surveys and applied research to better understand the extent of this impact, and why some Myrtaceae are more resilient than others (Carnegie and Pegg 2018). Where funding has been available, further efforts by botanic gardens and seed banks have seen collections of germplasm provide some level of security for some of the most highly susceptible species (Summerell 2017).

In addition to ex situ collections, understanding the impacts in situ is critical to better targeting management responses. However, widescale management of myrtle rust in situ is untenable, particularly when considering the rate and mode of spread of fungal spores (Carnegie and Pegg 2018). Furthermore, the significant resources needed to manually treat infected populations to ameliorate fungal infection at scale makes this approach completely unrealistic within current knowledge and resources.

Ex situ collections of species in botanic gardens, their nurseries and seed banks present much smaller numbers of individuals than would normally be found in healthy, functioning in situ populations. These ex situ insurance populations can provide some level of hope for maintaining a species existence at the collection level, particularly when in situ populations are unable to reproduce due to infection. While ex situ collections usually require an intensive level of management to maintain their health, they also present opportunities for regular monitoring to potentially identify the early signs of infection and improve interventions with timely application of fungicidal treatments. With current advances in genetic tools, it is also possible to cost-effectively assess genetic variability in the ex situ collections and manage them to ensure we have the best chance of maintaining viable populations.

The comprehensive review of the myrtle rust issue, Myrtle Rust reviewed (Makinson 2018) and the recently released Myrtle Rust – a draft national action plan (Makinson et. al. 2020) provide a thorough analysis of the threat of myrtle rust, and recommendations for the implementation of a coordinated national response. The draft national action plan, while technically still draft, THE BOTANIC GARDENer | ISS 58 Winter 2022

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is providing much-needed guidance for the national response across practitioners, academia and government.

The new Threatened Species Strategy (Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment [DAWE] 2021) and its associated Action Plan 2021-2026 (DAWE 2022) identifies myrtle rust as a key threat to Australia’s threatened species, with the Myrtle Rust – a draft national action plan providing necessary guidance for the implementation of this very welcome policy focus.

Rhodamnia rubescens cuttings in the Booderee Botanic Gardens nursery. Credit: Damian Wrigley

How can botanic gardens, nurseries and seed banks get involved?

Biosecurity funding from the Australian Government’s DAWE is supporting the Council of Heads of Australian Botanic Gardens (CHABG) and BGANZ to undertake a stocktake of species in the family Myrtaceae that are already held in botanic gardens, their nurseries and seed banks. The stocktake will be performed through a survey that will be open to those across the BGANZ network with species from the family Myrtaceae in their collections. This information will be used to inform future prioritisation of myrtle rust-affected species and support the implementation of the Threatened Species Strategy Action Plan 2021–2026.

Myrtle rust experts across academia, botanic gardens, seed banks and government will help to inform the design of the survey, ensuring it captures the most pertinent information for shaping the future management of myrtle rust-susceptible species both in situ and ex situ. Consultations with the BGANZ BCARM group will also help inform how the survey can reflect the differential access to resources and limitations that gardens may experience when collating and managing collections‑related data. Once finalised, the survey will be distributed to BGANZ members to ascertain which species are held in collections, including whether provenance and the diversity of these collections can confidently be identified.

The survey results will be released at the end of 2022 and will be made freely available to BGANZ members and the public through the Atlas of Living Australia’s MERIT portal. The information collected through this survey will enable botanic gardens, nurseries, seed banks and researchers to utilise this data in strategically planning and managing their collections as well as supporting further research. The survey results will also be shared with governments, business and the philanthropic sectors so that policy makers and funding bodies have additional information to assist in the prioritisation of future resources.

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Professional Networks Botanic gardens, nurseries and seed banks hold substantial expertise and collections across Australia and with them a wealth of information about which species are already secured ex situ. By responding to the survey, you will be supporting the collation of critical information that can help to build support for future national coordination of projects that seek to tackle the threat of myrtle rust and save our endemic Myrtaceae.

If you have questions about the survey, please contact Damian Wrigley at coordinator@seedpartnership.org.au or on 0418 955 661.

References AJ Carnegie & GS Pegg. Lessons from the incursion of myrtle rust in Australia. Annual Review of Phytopathology, 2018, 56(1): 457–478. https://doi.

Part of the Rhodamnia rubescens insurance collection at the Booderee Botanic Gardens nursery. Credit: Damian Wrigley

org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-080516-035256 Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE). The Australian Government’s Threatened Species Strategy 2021–2031, DAWE, Canberra, April 2021. CC BY 4.0.

Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE). Threatened Species Strategy Action Plan 2021–2026, DAWE, Canberra, February 2022. CC BY 4.0.

RO Makinson. Myrtle Rust reviewed: the impacts of the invasive pathogen Austropuccinia psidii on the Australian environment. Plant Biosecurity Cooperative

Syzygium hodgkinsoniae exhibiting significant infection with myrtle rust.

Credit: Geoff Pegg

Research Centre, Canberra, 2018.

RO Makinson, GS Pegg & AJ Carnegie. Myrtle Rust in Australia – a National Action Plan, Australian Plant Biosecurity Science Foundation, Canberra, 2020.

BA Summerell. Managing biological invasions: the impact of exotic diseases on plant communities in Australia. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 2017, 102(2): 324–330. https://doi. org/10.3417/D-16-00012A

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Learn more at hortis.com

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Professional Networks

Moving to Hortis: Cairns Botanic Garden shares their experience Dr Waheed Arshad, Botanical Scientist and Havard Ostgaard, CEO, Botanical Software Last year, BGANZ selected Hortis as the records management system of choice for the region’s botanic gardens. The aim was to provide members with a robust, reliable, secure and accessible solution that is optimised to meet the current and future needs of regional botanic gardens.

Since then, Hortis has onboarded several gardens from Victoria and is now open to members across the rest of Australia and New Zealand, including Cairns Botanic Garden. From the

Waheed Arshad

Gondwanan Evolutionary Garden to boardwalks through palms, this Queensland oasis is renowned as one of the best collections of tropical plants in Australia.

As the Hortis team continues to work with more BGANZ members, Waheed caught up with Dr Charles Clarke, Curator at Cairns Botanic Garden, to learn about his experience since adopting Hortis in April 2022.

Could you tell us about the plant records at Cairns Botanic Garden?

‘The collection here is quite outstanding, but it was never a very carefully catalogued collection.

We’ve recently had the first accessions book of the gardens from the 1800s professionally restored, which has some amazing old records in it. However, it wasn’t until about the 1960s that Cairns formalised accession numbers – our first documented accession is actually 1960-0002!’

What type of plant records system were you looking for?

‘For some time, we’ve been looking for a system that is more modern, more intuitive, more interactive, that takes away our reliance on hand-written documents – something also that is cloud‑based and that any of our staff can use. This was where Hortis came into the equation.

We were really looking for something that is flexible, something that we can easily interrogate and get information out of whenever we need it – and without having to be software engineers in order to do it.’

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Cairns Botanic Garden houses one of the best collections of tropical plants in Australia.

Charles using Hortis at his desktop computer.

How have you found using Hortis so far?

‘I’ve only been using Hortis for a couple of weeks, but it has been exceptionally easy using to use.

In terms of entering accessions, the format of the entry system is extremely simple, very intuitive, very easy. I learned how to do it within probably about 20 minutes!’

Are there any features you’re looking forward to?

‘There’ll be many things in Hortis which we look forward to, for instance, mapping our plant locations and managing our garden beds – I really look forward to that. I think it’s such a useful thing for us. We have brush turkeys at our garden, so it’s very rare for us to be able to put a small name tag next to a plant for longer than a week, because they’re always moving them around and a lot of our staff don’t know where to put the name tag back.’

There’ll be many things in Hortis which we look forward to, for instance, mapping our plant locations and managing our garden beds.

How will Hortis impact the way you manage your collection?

‘It’s going to be a great tool for our staff to use in the field. That’s going to be a big, big step forward for us as we enter the 21st century… finally! In terms of our plant records, we’ve been stuck in the 19th century for a while, so we’re really looking forward to working with Hortis.

Accurate record-keeping is something that all botanic gardens are supposed to do, but recently we haven’t been doing it effectively because of this lack of a suitable package – so it’s a big step forward for us.’

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Professional Networks Mapping in Hortis has arrived Mid-April, Hortis launched an early version of mapping. You can now map your existing plant materials and explore your plant collection in a more interactive way. As with all Hortis capabilities, this works across mobiles, tablets, and desktop computers, all without the need for a complex installation process.

If you want to learn more about Hortis, visit www.hortis.com or get in touch with waheed@botanicalsoftware.com to arrange a meeting for a demonstration and discuss onboarding options.

Managing your plant collection via the map view of your garden.

BGANZ member discount When signing up to Hortis, you decide on the data recording capacity you will need for your subscription. BGANZ members are offered double capacity for their first year at no additional cost. For more information about this offer, contact Tex Moon, terence.moon@parks.vic.gov.au.

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WHAT’S NEW?

Botanic news: from home and abroad 7th Global Botanic Gardens Congress: 25–29 September 2022, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne, Australia BGANZ congresses are increasingly popular events, and the

Eamonn Flanagan CEO, BGANZ

Seventh BGANZ Congress is a joint BGANZ/BGCI Congress to be held in Melbourne, Victoria. Put a note in your diary and get planning, Sunday 25 – Thursday 29 September 2022, with the Sunday currently a ‘technical tours’ day.

BGANZ Grants for up to $1500 and BGANZ Awards have been offered again in 2022.

Check all eligibility and timelines here.

BGANZ Regional and Professional Groups: get involved today We have seen a tremendous increase in Regional and Professional Group networks and workshop opportunities with the uptake of digital technology. It’s been great to see our members, colleagues and interested public joining several sessions already this year.

Members in these regions can contact regional group chairs for further information, get added to contact lists, or watch the e-news for updates.

For more information on any of these Regional and Professional Groups – email media@bganz.org.au or the Chair of each group linked below.

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INFLUENCE & ACTION

7th Global Botanic Gardens Congress 25–29 September 2022 Melbourne Australia

Botanic Gardens as Agents of Change Join us for the 7th Global Botanic Gardens Congress (7GBGC) which will be held in Melbourne Australia from Sunday 25 – Thursday 29 September 2022.

Whilst our ability to meet has been limited recently, it is now time to bring our community together and experience real people, real connections and real gardens.

Influence and Action: Botanic Gardens as Agents of Change will explore how botanic gardens can play a greater role in shaping our future. With accelerated loss of biodiversity across the globe, increased urbanisation, population growth and climate change, our need to work together to find new solutions for the future has never been greater.

Join inspiring speakers, fascinating workshops, panel discussions, and symposia, in addition to a designated Education and Engagement Day, field visits and an evening program designed to showcase the vibrant contemporary creative and food scenes for which Melbourne is globally renowned.

Explore our most liveable city and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria’s stunning and contrasting landmark gardens at Melbourne and

Cranbourne. Immerse yourself in natural areas of coastal heathland or towering hardwood forest, visit regional botanic gardens and enjoy ‘The Art of Botanical Illustration’ Exhibition incorporating works from renowned artists from around the globe.

There is so much on offer.

Visit the Congress website for more information on registration and call for abstracts to ensure you take advantage of this valuable opportunity.

For further information visit

7GBGC.ORG

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Regional Groups BGANZ Victoria Chair John Arnott and BGANZ New Zealand Chair Wolfgang Bopp.

These are well-established regional groups and their programs continue in 2022.

BGANZ Queensland: Contact Barry Meiring Barry Meiring (Gladstone Botanic Garden) and Cody Johnson (Bundaberg Botanic Garden) are taking the reins at BGANZQ Regional Group – Queensland members have been notified of coming meetings, and plans are being developed to grow the group and its activities in coming months.

BGANZ New South Wales: Contact Michael Elgey Michael Elgey, the Curator Manager at The Australian Botanic Garden and Michael Anlezark, Garden Manager at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden, have re-energised the BGANZ NSW group.

They are aiming to ensure there is a collective dialogue, networking, workshops/conferences, and scheduled meetings between all BGANZ NSW gardens and organisations.

Monthly online meetings are scheduled, so join BGANZ NSW and continue developing opportunities for collaborative projects across our gardens.

Currently, we have three professional groups operating: Botanic Gardens Engagement Group (BGEN) lead by Ben Liu – there were regular meetings and well attended workshops in 2021 and look for more of the same in 2022 as we lead into the BGANZ/BGCI Congress.

Botanic Gardens Collections and Record Management Group (BCARM) lead by Emma Simpkins (neé Bodley). These are held monthly and there have already been several this year in conjunction with the ANPC. Botanic Gardens Day Working Group – 2022 saw our small team expand with the welcome addition of several volunteers. A big thank you to this year’s volunteers, Jill Scown, Caitlin Abela, Kirsten Anderson, Kimberley Blythe, Karen Zheng, Brenden Moore, Helen McHugh, John Arnott and Peter Symes. If you’d like to be involved next year, please email secretariat@bganz.org.au and see below for other volunteering opportunities with BGANZ.

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What’s New? 7th Botanic Gardens Day (last Sunday in May) 29 May 2022 Theme: Plant Passions BGANZ was delighted to announce its inaugural naming rights partner, Seasol International, for the Botanic Gardens Day Seasol Plant Lovers Challenge this year.

The previous plant challenges (note name change) have become increasingly popular with members and the public as we aim to share and celebrate our love of plants and botanic gardens, and educate the public about the vital conservation work carried out by our members.

With Threesides Marketing guiding the program this year we aimed for the plant lovers challenge to increase in its popularity even further.

This year Seasol International had a lot of prizes to give away – to members, member gardens, Friends, the public and more. I hope you were able to join all the Botanic Gardens Day events on the last Sunday in May and across the month.

There was a great program on offer this year – hoped you enjoyed it.

We are hugely grateful to our webinar presenters and host, Botanic Gardens Day Ambassador, Costa Georgiadis. The webinars were very well-attended and the feedback we have received has been nothing but positive.

We’ll have more on the BGANZ Seasol Plant Lovers Challenge and Botanic Gardens Day 2022 in the next edition.

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harcourteditingservices@gmail.com +61 (0) 423 623 360

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BGANZ members: professional development opportunities BGANZ council encourages all members to look out for these awards, and many other non-BGANZ annual awards each year. If you are looking for professional development opportunities, there is a list of awards and secondment opportunities on the BGANZ website. We aim to keep it updated as new professional development opportunities become available.

BGANZ awards – objectives The objective of the BGANZ awards is to acknowledge the efforts, and contribute to the ongoing training and development, of BGANZ members through research or work experience with like organisations, which will bring a benefit to the applicants, BGANZ members and the wider industry.

2021 BGANZ award winners BGANZ Professional Development Award 2021: Kate Roud, RBG Victoria BGANZ/American Public Gardens Association Award 2021: Raydeen Cuffe, Wellington Botanic Gardens

2022 BGANZ awards BGANZ Professional Development Award 2022 (closing date 31 July 2022), value AUD$2,000 BGANZ Young Member Award 2022 (closing date 31 July 2022) value AUD$500 BGANZ/American Public Gardens Association Award 2022 (closing date 31 March 2022) value ~US$800

BGANZ member benefits 1. BGANZ partner with Seasol International – great offer for members Our partnership with Seasol International Pty Ltd means that BGANZ institution and associate members can take advantage of a fantastic offer to purchase Seasol products at significantly reduced prices. Conditions apply. For the confidential price list please email: secretariat@bganz.org.au.

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What’s New? 2. Hortis – botanical database software for members In a survey in 2017, 84% of members called for more support/leadership from BGANZ in Collections Record Management.

Tex Moon and the team from BGANZ Victoria have worked assiduously towards bringing a major benefit to members. The Hortis database program is available to all members to join immediately (see Moving to Hortis: Cairns Botanic Garden shares their experience in this issue).

A. Victorian Gardens will receive two years free membership via a Victorian State Government grant.

B. All BGANZ members, who join anytime in the first four years, will receive double the amount of billable user days for their first year of use. So, 20 days a month becomes 40 every month in year 1 of use.

Email Rebecca Harcourt media@bganz.org.au for more information.

3. BGANZ partner with Plant Health Australia BGANZ has partnered with Plant Health Australia (PHA) for two years. BGANZ members will have great opportunities to attend PHA biosecurity briefings and workshops through webinars held online.

You can find dates for PHA Biosecurity Workshops, and additional workshops and PHA information in the BGANZ weekly e-news.

4. BGANZ partner with Augusta Golf Cars BGANZ members have a great opportunity to discuss all their transport requirements with Augusta Golf Cars. BGANZ encourages all members to contact Augusta Golf Cars to discuss future purchasing opportunities. More information about Augusta is available on the BGANZ website.

BGANZ: volunteer positions Vacancy: BGANZ Web Content Manager (volunteer position) An opportunity exists to join the BGANZ Communications Group as BGANZ Web Content Manager. This is a volunteer position. The BGANZ website uses the WordPress content management system, and full training and support will be given. The position is not onerous – usually only an hour a week once you are familiar with the system.

The BGANZ Web Content Manager works closely with Eamonn, BGANZ CEO and Rebecca Harcourt, Admin and Communications officer. Join your professional network and help your member organisation have the website members deserve.

Contact secretariat@bganz.org.au for more information. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Vacancy: BGANZ Social Media Content Manager (volunteer position) Join the BGANZ team and assist with all things social media – coordinating weekly BGANZ e-news and scheduling social media posts – a great opportunity to assist BGANZ and increase your skills in the process.

You will work closely with Eamonn (CEO) and Rebecca (Admin and Comms). Flexible weekly commitment – its expected three hours in a block or spread across the week would be required.

Contact secretariat@bganz.org.au for more information. We look forward to hearing from you.

BGANZ Board: volunteer roles – Secretary and Treasurer The BGANZ Board are aiming to appoint a Secretary to the Board, and Treasurer. This is a wonderful opportunity to assist the BGANZ Board in the initial stages of its commencement.

Volunteers are expected to have knowledge of Treasurer and Board Secretary roles in a company limited by guarantee.

For more details contact Eamonn Flanagan, CEO, secretariat@bganz.org.au.

BGANZ Committee (formerly Council): how do I get elected?

As outlined in the article ‘BGANZ Ltd – changes at Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand‘ in this issue, BGANZ Committee will replace BGANZ Council on 1 July. Members will be elected in a similar way to the current Council with details to be announced shortly. If and when changes are made to the Committee, members will be notified of changes through email, social media and the website.

If you have further questions, please contact Eamonn Flanagan secretariat@bganz.org.au.

BGANZ returning and new members (financial year beginning July 2022) We welcome all new and returning members, including our newest members, Picton Botanic Garden, Wollondilly Shire Council, NSW and Tamworth Regional Botanic Garden, Tamworth Regional Council, NSW. Thanks for your support and we look forward to your involvement in BGANZ.

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Seasol and winter plant protection Sue Edwards, Assistant Marketing Manager, Home Garden, Seasol International Pty Ltd Frost and cold weather can be damaging, and even devastating, to plants, and as gardeners, it’s easy to be taken off-guard by an unexpected frosty night. Frost and cool temperatures can scorch the leaves of evergreens, and more tender perennials and annuals can collapse.

Tender young growth and early blossoms are particularly susceptible.

There are things we can do to minimise the effect of frost on our plants. The most obvious one is to choose tough plants that are more tolerant of frosty conditions. Applying a thick layer of coarse mulch will help keep the soil warm, moisture in, and weeds at bay.

More tender plants can be moved to a sheltered position when there is a risk of frost or grown in a warm, protected spot. To keep their plants warm at night, some gardeners even resort to physically shielding their plants from frost and the cold with shade cloth. Just remember to remove the shade cloth during the day to allow the plant to obtain light and photosynthesise. Finally, spending time in the garden will enable you to keep an eye on plants. Some plants that you might think are frost‑tolerant may be suffering from the cold and might need to be moved or protected.

Seasol, the complete garden health treatment, can help to protect plants from frost damage and cold weather with regular use. Seasol lowers the temperature at which plant cells freeze, so Seasol treated plants can stand up better to frosty and cold conditions! Apply it to the garden every two weeks (mix 30 ml of concentrate per 9 l of water – standard watering can), throughout the year.

Seasol is safe to use on all plants, including natives, veggies and lawns.

During winter, apply it in the morning once the frost has cleared, as this will allow the foliage to dry before nightfall so that fungal diseases such as downy mildew don’t take hold.

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In other news…

National Eucalypt Day and the Eucalypt of the Year Linda Baird, CEO, Eucalypt Australia Eucalypt Australia have been elated at the response from botanic gardens and arboreta across the country to National Eucalypt Day on 23 March 2022. We thank all gardens and arboreta who celebrated the day with walks, festivals, educational tours and workshops.

National Eucalypt Day is held annually on 23 March and recognises both the importance of eucalypts and the place they hold in our lives and hearts. It is slowly becoming more festival-like, with events being held across the country on the day and the mostly at the weekends before and after, a Eucalypt of the Year Poll, a photography competition, and the awarding of the prestigious Bjarne K Dahl medal.

We were very grateful to the staff at Kings Park for hosting the awarding of the Bjarne K Dahl medal this year. The medal honours the benefactor of Eucalypt Australia and publicly recognises and rewards those who have made a significant and sustained contribution to eucalypts. This year the worthy recipient of the medal was Malcolm French OAM, as presented by Dr Suzanne Prober.

Malcolm is an agriculturalist, publisher, associate researcher and honorary curator of the eucalypts at the WA Herbarium, farmer, eucalypt chaser, and OAM 2015 recipient (Medal of the Order of Australia) for service to conservation and the environment in Western Australia. Eucalypt Australia honours and respects Malcom’s continued collection, research, education and promotion of Western Australia’s incredibly diverse array of eucalypts.

Dead Cider Gum forest under the Milky Way. Credit: Geoff Murray http://www.geoffmurray.com/

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What’s New? The Eucalypt of the Year Poll was a huge (literally) success with the vote going down to the wire to the mighty Mountain Ash Eucalyptus regnans. E. regnans holds a lot of tall tree records – it’s the tallest of all eucalypt species, and is the tallest flowering tree in the world, with the Centurion tree standing over 100 m tall in Tasmania’s Huon Valley.

It was a particularly competitive year, with a lot of state-on-state rivalry, or east versus west.

This year Corymbia ficifolia Red Flowering Gum came in a close second and the gorgeous Sydney Red Gum Angophora costata occupied third place on the podium.

Geoff Murray took out the photography competition ‘Eucalypt Landscapes’ with his haunting image of the Miena Cider Gum Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricata under the Milky Way. If you have any ideas and thoughts of how you would like to contribute to or enhance the National Eucalypt Day experience, Eucalypt Australia’s CEO Linda Baird would love to hear from you, executive@eucalyptaustralia.org.au.

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria wins ‘Best Major Tourism Attraction’ in Australia Congratulations to BGANZ member garden, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, which won the tourism industry’s peak award, the 2021 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards, at a ceremony in March 2022.

The Australian Tourism Industry Council (ATIC) judges selected RGBV from many outstanding competitors based on its achievements in areas of tourism, business planning, marketing, customer service and sustainability. With gardens in both Melbourne and Cranbourne, RBGV attracts interstate and overseas visitors, with over 1.7 million people visiting both gardens combined last year. Well done to staff at both gardens on this well-deserved award.

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BGANZ Ltd – changes at Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand Eamonn Flanagan, CEO BGANZ Following the recent Special General Meeting of BGANZ members on 28 April 2022, BGANZ Council can announce that BGANZ will transition from BGANZ Inc to BGANZ Ltd on 1 July 2022.

This change will bring the introduction of a Board of up to nine Board Directors providing overall governance, financial management, fundraising, partnership development and strategic planning, with existing regional and professional groups continuing as the Member Committee.

The governance changes are designed to set BGANZ up for future growth so that we can more successfully achieve our strategic objectives and service members to a higher level. Importantly, the Board structure allows for external skills-based appointments while retaining at least 50% composition made up of BGANZ members. This composition is designed to bridge gaps in expertise experienced under the current structure while retaining the key focus on our members as a network organisation.

Details of the Board and Member Committee structure as well as the new constitution have been circulated to members in the lead-up to the SGM and are available at https://www.bganz.org.au/ bganz-constitution-changes-explained/.

Seven of the (up to) nine Board member positions are currently filled, with Dr Lucy Sutherland, former Director of Botanic Gardens South Australia, and long-time member of BGANZ, becoming the inaugural BGANZ Board Chair. All the initial Board members are listed in the table below.

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Dr Lucy Sutherland

Initial Board Chair, former Director Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium South Australia

Chris Russell

Current BGANZ President, Exec Director RBGV Cranbourne

Wolfgang Bopp

Current BGANZ Vice-President, Director of Botanic Gardens and Garden Parks Christchurch City Council

Dr Leonie Scriven

Current BGANZ Council member, Dep Director Collections Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium South Australia

Peter Byron

Former BGANZ Council member, General Manager Australian National Botanic Gardens

Rohan Butler

Former Seasol International General Manager, marketing, business development, retail

Kate Russell

Programmes and Partnership Manager Christchurch City Council

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What’s New?

BGANZ Board BGANZ Member Committee Regional Groups and Specialist Groups Each Regional and Specialist Group has a Convenor Quarterly reports from Group Convenors to BGANZ Board via Member Comittee Chair Annual gathering Convenors with BGANZ Board

BGANZ New Zealand (2)

BGANZ Australia (8)

CHABG (1)

(NT, Qld, NSW, ACT, Vic, Tas, SA, WA)

BGANZ Coopted Members (2 maximum)

Specialist 1 BGEN

Specialist 2 BCARM

Engagement Group

Collections and Record Management

Specialist 3 Placeholder

Next steps BGANZ will apply for deductible gift recipient (DGR) status to grow opportunities to increase our attractiveness to sponsorship funders.

The BGANZ Board will meet for the first time in early July. The BGANZ Committee will meet in July or August with the date to be confirmed.

Profiles of all Board members will be posted on the BGANZ website shortly.

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www.bganz.org.au