Fabulous Fungi

Spring!! Glorious now with just the right amount of rain and sunshine. Bush Regeneration on Ash Island (check out the Kooragang Wetland Rehabilitation Project website) has been weeding Ehrharta sp. (African veldtgrass) and replacing it with the native Microlaena stipoides (Weeping grass). Quite a number of fungi along the Rainforest Walk from the old silos. At the foot of the Plum Pine Podocarpus elatus we found a small group of Xerula australis with surprise surprise!! a largish skink climbing the stems and eating chunks off the rim of the cap!! A "David Attenborough" moment which kept us enthralled for the ten minutes the little lizard gorged. The bracket fungi look dramatic in the picture on a tree was only about 30cm diameter. Don't know which species is pictured on the ruler - always measure the cap and stem and then try to get a spore pattern by standing the trimmed cap on a half and half black/white piece of paper - but the elongated hexagons of the pores are beautiful.

The woes and joys of propagation

This Grevillea - unsure of the name as it has no label and so many are hybrids these days- is growing in the garden outside the propagation shed at the Community Greening Centre, March Street, Kotara. It is a low-growing shrub, to about 1 Metre high and spreading wide, carrying these lovely red/pink groups of flowers. The leaf is long, toothed and flat and the stems have a beautiful yellow-orange fuzz. It is a low-key and subtly lovely plant.
Yesterday we had the pleasure of potting on some Scaevola aemula and Themeda australis (Kangaroo grass). Some of the scaevola had clearly NEVER made roots after the cuttings were originally potted, some were in the early stages of making roots, and others had already made strong plants with long roots and flowers blooming. Themeda makes a clump when it matures, with tall straggly seed heads and fine foliage which curves and bends attractively. It makes a great soil stabiliser and if treated as a garden plant can be trimmed and clipped to make green-grey-cream backdrops to colourful flowering specimens. Go to http://asgap.org.au and type "grass" into the search box to find pictures and articles about Australian native grasses in the ecology of Australia and your own home garden.

Never judge a fungus by it's skin

The top of this fungi was almost level with the sandy soil in Tilligerry Peninsula and would not be noticed unless you were on your own personal Fungi Foray as I was. The outside was a creamy-white skin surrounding a layer of opaque "jelly". Even better was the highly folded interior which I an guessing contains the spore. It dropped no spore that I could see, and as I didn't have a microscope I couldn't check that any had been deposited on a slide or on black or white paper. A big scoop of the sandy soil under it was taken out, but I couldn't see that it was attached to anything in particular, just the bits and pieces of roots and grass and other debris in disturbed soil. The texture was soft and blubbery.
The first reaction that many people have to Fungi Foraying is that it is to seek out edible fungus. No joke, the first question is "what does it taste like?" Rule no. 1 to Rule No Infinity is - regard all fungi as poisonous. If you want to eat fungus then go to a supermarket or greengrocers shop or Farmers Market - and even there avoid the older shrivelly ones as fungi undergo chemical changes over their short life as fruiting body, not all of them good for YOUR body. There is a wise saying - "You can eat any fungus. It may kill you or it may not, but either way you are going to be very very sorry!!" Mushrooms and Toadstools are just two names for the same thing, the fruiting body of a fungus.

Gum trees dominate the Australian Landscape like no other plant. They range in size from low spreading shrubs to tall forest giants reaching 100M. They have adapted to grow in almost every situation – dry gullies to dripping forests, sandy soils to deep volcanic earth, sun-blasted plains to snow-capped mountains.

The term “gum tree” or “eucalypt” covers three very closely related genera - Corymbia, Angophora and Eucalyptus. Study groups are still separating them into their correct places so plant labels will show one or the other.

Australian Plant Society Newcastle Group members are enthusiastic plant hunters and observe the rule of “take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints”. Eucalypts make great photo subjects with their patterned barks, hanging foliage and displays of blossoms from white to red.

In the Barrington Tops a locally abundant species is Eucalyptus nitens, known as “Shining Gum”. Its trunk is like a pale slender cathedral pillar soaring up to 60M. It is commonly grown in forestry plantations.

“Mallee” type eucalypts sometimes have a single trunk but most grow with multiple slender stems rising from a fire-resistant lignotuber at the base. Mallees can be grown as large shrubs by occasionally lopping the trunk down close to the lignotuber. They will respond by producing lush new growth. The juvenile leaves are often different from adult leaves.

Two mallees are unique to the Hunter region and both are highly endangered species. One is Eucalyptus castrensis, growing to about 8M with smooth grey-bronze bark and white flowers. It is known from only a few hectares scattered around Singleton in the military area. The other is Eucalyptus pumila, known as Pokolbin Mallee, and it grows to about 6M. It is surviving in just one dense stand near Pokolbin.

There are many ornamental gum trees which grow to about 10M high and are suitable for small gardens. Eucalyptus curtisii “Plunketts Mallee” is from Qld and Angophora hispida is from NSW.

The WA species Corymbia ficifolia, the "WA Flowering Gum", finds eastern Australia's soils and weather a bit hard to take. It is much loved for its fabulous blossom ranging from white to deepest burgundy, although most are mid-toned pinks and oranges. In NSW they may live for a while and then drop dead, or maybe just fail to thrive. Ficifolia has been hybridized with a Qld species, Corymbia phtychocarpa, to create a new group of gums for small gardens. They are only available commercially as they are not a naturally occurring species and are grafted onto local rootstocks. Names include words like “splendour”, “crackerjack”, “beauty” and “glory”. Large leathery foliage is covered by a canopy of thickly-clustered white, orange, red or pink blossoms. When they are in full bloom they are all "traffic stoppers" as the blossom display is very striking.

OPEN GARDEN TO VISIT IN EARLY SPRING

Open Garden Hartley Hill Homestead, Newcastle

Sundays

21^st & 28^th September &

5^th October 2008

Hartley Hill Homestead has 1.5 hectares of native gardens surrounded by natural bushland. It is positioned within the Newcastle urban zone and is an important wildlife refuge.

Hartley Hill Homestead is open on consecutive Sundays from the 21^st September to the 5^th October, 10am to 4pm. Entry is $5 per person. Devonshire teas will be available. All money collected is given to the Hunter Medical Research Institute.

Location: 12 Knight St, Cardiff Sth, Newcastle. Enquiries 0411 422 943

SPRING IS COMING SO GET READY!

Maree is a dedicated conservationist and

advocate for indigenous plants as the

first and best choice for our gardens.
The photo is of Corymbia "Summer Beauty"

in her garden

Maree McCarthy

B.Env.Sc, Hort. Cert..

AILDM Member

Nature’s Magic

Garden Design

Phone: (02) 4943 0305

Mobile: 0410 405 815

Email: mailto:naturemagic@optusnet.com.au

ABN 46 151 843 544

Dates coming up…

29^th to 31^st August: Gardening Australia Expo at Homebush. http://www.abcgardeningexpo.com.au/sydney08.php

11^th to 14^th (Thurs to Sun) September: Flora Fest at Kariong (Central Coast) http://www.florafestival.com.au/

Saturday 6^th September: Lake Macquarie Council Tree Giveaway Day – at Teralba Worm Farm

3 Sundays in a row - Sept 21, 28; Oct 5: Peter Vaughan’s Open Garden. 2 acres, beautiful native garden (Cardiff). http://www.hartleyhill.com.au/

Open Garden Scheme:

Saturday 30^th – Monday 1^st September: Peter Olde: The Grevillea Guru (co-author of The Grevillea Book)

Spectacular park-like native garden. Peter will conduct tours and give informal talks on all aspects of grevillea culture at 11am & 2pm

ADDRESS: 140 Russell Lane, Oakdale (near Camden), Open 10am – 4.30pm $6 entry

Friday 19^th September: Discover Your Garden Style, with Meredith Kirton

Glenmore House, Camden: This landscape designer, garden writer and ABC TV Gardening Australia presenter, has the solutions, with practical advice and imaginative ideas, all beautifully illustrated with case studies of her favourite gardens. $65 includes morning tea, lunch & garden tour. Book online at http://www.opengarden.org.au/ or Ph: 9983 1836

Tues 7^th October: Lake Macquarie Council and I will be running a workshop on Garden Design with Natives. Ph: 4921 0245

Banksia robur

This Banksia has large, leathery leaves and these green/brown flower cones. Sturdy stiff horizontal branches on an equally sturdy upright stem, this plant stands to attention and demands it. It grows to about 2 Metres tall on roots which demand very good drainage. On Tilligerry Peninsula in the gardens of Tilligerry Habitat they grow in deep sandy soil. Have clay in your garden? Dig in LOTS of compost and sand and make a decent mound, at least 30cms above the normal surface of your garden, give them some shade. This is one aussie plant which can get all the phosphate it needs all by itself, so DON'T feed it anything but low-phosphate slow release pellets, garden compost and a handspan depth of good mulch.