NPQ SGAP Mackay - Native Plants Queensland

03/09/2026

We will be holding a General Meeting tonight and would love to see you there! Interested guests are most welcome.

Location: Botanic Gardens Meeting Room (opposite cafe), 9 Lagoon Street Weet Mackay.
Time: 7:30pm start

What’s happening:
🌱Brief general business
🌱Presentation of ANPSA (Australian Native Plant Society) award to Mackay Branch member, Maya Harrison presented by Lawrie Smith
🌱Landscape Architect, Lawrie Smith will present a slide presentation on ‘Gardens, Landscapes and Celebrities.’
🌱A show and tell session of native plants - bring in something native from your garden.
🌱Plant raffle
🌱Cup of tea and supper to end the evening.

📷 Melastoma malabathricum subsp. malabathricum, Native Lasiandra, Blue Tongue.

14/08/2026

Needing some plants for your weekend gardening?

We’re selling some native Australian plants today for $3.00 each - come see us and we’ll help you! Attract the birds and butterflies to your garden 🦋

We’re also give info on what we do and how you can get involved 😊

14/08/2026

Come find us at the Wetland Walkabout Open Day tomorrow!
We’ll have a small selection of native plants available for purchase.

8am to 12 noon on Saturday 15th, at Wetland Walkabout Sanctuary on Keeleys Road

05/08/2026

🍃🌱 This Thursday, August 6th at 7:30pm, the August Branch Meeting will take place in the meeting room at the Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens situated behind the visitor centre.

All members and guests are invited to attend.

Following a brief discussion of business, we will have a presentation ‘Native Bees in your Backyard’ by Katrina Corry. We will then have a show-and-tell or show-and-ask session, where members are invited to share native plants, fruits, and flowers from their gardens.

The meeting will conclude with a plant raffle.

You can also join online with video conference via Microsoft Teams - post a comment asking for the link and we’ll get it to you.

We look forward to see you there.

19/07/2026

FYI, Mackay Conservation Group will hold a 'Mangroves film night' to celebrate World Mangrove Day. There'll be a screening of the documentary, artist showing their wares, a raffle, a short talk about a new book about the reef, and more.
See below if interested~

🌳 Celebrate World Mangrove Day with us!

📅 Sunday 26 July
🕠 5:30pm
📍 Cook Theatre, CQ University, Ooralea

A free, family-friendly evening with:
🎬 Hidden Treasure Magnetic Island — film screening by Snorkeldownunder
🎤 Talk by marine naturalist & author Lawrence Scheele
🎨 Local art exhibition
🎁 Raffles, prizes & giveaways
🌱 A short talk on why Mackay’s mangroves matter

Bring your own snacks and drinks (no alcohol). Everyone welcome — bring the whole family!

Link in bio for more info 🔗

19/07/2026

This will be a fun social and nature-exploratory event, for those of us who love Mackay's wetlands and the plants/animals that it supports.

🌟 Wetland Walkabout Open Day! 🌟
🌿 Saturday 15th August
🦋 8am to 12pm

❤️ Free event! ❤

Join us for a morning of nature, discovery and family fun with guided walks, fish feeding, inspiring speakers and local conservation info. 💚🌼

Step into one of Mackay's hidden natural treasures! Join us for a morning of discovery at the Wetland Walkabout. Wander through beautiful wetlands on guided walks led by local conservationists, learn about the unique plants and wildlife that call this special place home, hear from inspiring conservation speakers and connect with local environmental organisations. Enjoy a fish feeding experience for a family-friendly activity and discover how you can play a part in protecting Mackay's natural environment.

We hope to see you there!🥰🥳

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/wetland-walkabout-open-day-tickets-1993799952329?aff=oddtdtcreator

28/06/2026

If you happen to stroll along Mackay’s Sandfly Creek Environmental walk (between the River street boat ramp and Iluka/Town Beach), you may notice dense clumps of leaves and flowers dangling from an otherwise sparsely-leaved tree. These clusters of leaves/flowers are local species of Mistletoe! The plant pictured here is possibly ‘Lysiana subfalcata’, which often sits on Wattles (Acacia sp.) and She-Oaks (Casuarina sp.).

Mistletoes are plants which grows on other plants (partial parasites). They can make their own energy from the sun (photosynthesis) but they need to tap into a host tree for its water and mineral nutrients. Typically the host plant and mistletoe can live together happily, and although some host trees may look stressed, this is often caused by other reasons.

Beyond looking pretty, Mistletoe has a range of uses. You’ll probably be familiar with the tradition of hanging mistletoe at Christmas and kissing someone underneath it (does anyone actually do this? haha). It was used by Australia’s Aboriginal people for medicinal purposes, like wound healing. The fruit from this Mistletoe is a favourite food for honeyeaters and also (take a wild guess) the Mistletoe Bird. You could also try eating the fruit which tastes pleasant enough as bush tucker, but they’re extremely sticky and hard to spit out (do so at your own risk)! Birds eat them and then wipe their beak or cloaca on the tree branch to get rid of the sticky seed, thus a new mistletoe is born.

Our next general meeting is this coming Thursday 2nd July at 7:30pm, at the botanic garden meeting room (go to the back door of the visitor centre building) at 9 Lagoon street. Members and new guests are all welcome! We’d love to see what’s growing in your own garden as part of our show-and-tell, so bring along a fruit, flower or cutting (optional), and we’ll also hear an update on Pioneer Landcare’s plans for the recently-acquired Wetland Walkabout sanctuary. Will we see you there?

Photo credit: Chris Evans.
Info source: ‘Plants of Capricornia’, a 2007 book by Melzer & Plumb.

25/06/2026

FYI, Mackay Conservation Group will hold a public rally this weekend calling for the proposed Port Access Road to not go ahead, so that around 20 hectares of mangroves (fish and crab breeding habitat) in Mackay will continue to be protected.

If you’re interested, you can attend at 10:00am on Saturday 27th June at the River Wharves (opposite 9 River Street)

23/06/2026

What is flowering, fruiting or growing in your garden patch of Aussie plants around Mackay and surrounds, at the moment?

Feel free to share pics!