Australian Plants Society Maroondah Inc

Australian Plants Society Maroondah Inc APS Maroondah is a not for profit, incorporated commuinity organisation for those with an interest in growing and conserving Australian native flora

Templetonia retusa, known as cockies tongues have been spectacular this year. We have 5 plants in our small suburban ga...
10/06/2026

Templetonia retusa, known as cockies tongues have been spectacular this year. We have 5 plants in our small suburban garden at different stages of their lives. Now, who had that amazing wind storm go through their area at the end of last week? We certainly did in the Knox area. Bushes now completely devoid of every single flower. Other plants seem to survive, but this one didn't. Oh well, I can wait till next year. Certainly a plant worth growing. đŸ˜€
Templetonia retusa.
Photo Alison Rogers

The variations in just one species are really quite extraordinary. Late autumn heralds the beginning of the flowering s...
20/05/2026

The variations in just one species are really quite extraordinary. Late autumn heralds the beginning of the flowering season for the more commonly grown species, hybrids & cultivars of Correa, particularly Correa reflexa & Correa pulchella. There has been so much hybridisation of these 2 species in particular over the last 20-30 years, it has become almost impossible to put a name to so many. Maria Hitchcock's book "Correas", is a wonderful resource but there have been multitudes of new introductions since that was first introduced.
Here are 2 of my favourite forms of Correa reflexa, flowering at the moment - Correa reflexa 'Desert Glow' and Correa reflexa 'Jubilee'. Two very different forms in both leaf & flower, from more diverse climates, you couldn't find. The first from the Little Desert in Western Victoria & the second from the lower slopes of Mt Dandenong in Melbourne's outer east.

Eucalyptus sideroxylon 'Rosea' (Red-flowered Ironbark) is a hardy, medium-to-large Australian native tree, often growing...
11/05/2026

Eucalyptus sideroxylon 'Rosea' (Red-flowered Ironbark) is a hardy, medium-to-large Australian native tree, often growing 10–20m high with a spread of 8–15m. It is distinguished by dark, deeply fissured ironbark, blue-grey foliage, and pink-to-red flowers from autumn to winter. It is widely used for ornamental and screening purposes.

This plant is often grown for its bird attracting qualities. This particular plant had red wattle birds and musk lorikeets feeding in it. Quite a noise.

Another form has white/cream flowers which I find equally attractive. The smell/perfume is wonderful, attracting all sorts of insects and birds.

Photo - Eucalyptus sideroxylon 'Rosea' (Red-flowered Ironbark)
Alison Rogers

Friday 24th April starting at 7-30pm.From Alice Springs to Steep Point - a Straight Winding Road. This will be the pres...
23/04/2026

Friday 24th April starting at 7-30pm.
From Alice Springs to Steep Point - a Straight Winding Road. This will be the presentation that Marilyn Bull will give to us this month.

In 2024, Marilyn and Geoff travelled to and around Western Australia on what Marilyn called her "Wildflower Trip". This meant that she could stop and look at flowers when she wanted!
The first leg of this trip was between Alice Springs and Step Point – the westernmost point of Australia. This is 2100 km in a straight line. But the Bulls rarely travel in a straight line, favouring the roads less travelled. This talk will look at some of the highlights along the way – both floral and landscape. The closer they approached Steep Point, the more flowers they found as the wildflower season commenced. Marilyn hopes to present many places that most members will not have visited and many flowers that she still struggles to identify as well as some well-known and favourite species.

The meeting will be held at the Ringwood East Elderly Citizens Hall, 2-8 Laurence Grove, Ringwood East.
Parking is available behind the hall, accessed via Knaith Road (Melway map 50 B8). Entry is via the front door or side door, from 7.00 pm. The meeting starts at 7-30pm.
Visitors welcome.
Swainsona affinis Photo by Marilyn Bull

At our last meeting the speaker was Robyn Tyson, Leader of APS Mornington and current President of APS Victoria.She pres...
19/04/2026

At our last meeting the speaker was Robyn Tyson, Leader of APS Mornington and current President of APS Victoria.
She presented to us a talk on The Flora of the Mornington Peninsula.

Robyn gave us great detail on the flora contained in the many habitats of the peninsula, which encompasses diverse areas including forests (eucalypts, acacias), heathlands, coastal areas including, mangroves and salt pans, fern gullies, wetlands, and grasslands.

The peninsula's volcanic and granite geology, along with coastal exposure, significantly dictates plants distribution and adaption.
So many plants were mentioned including melaleucas; eucalypts, acacias, banksias, epacris, pulteneas, allocasuarinas and much more.

Devil Bend Reservoir, Crib Point, Bunarong Reserve are all places where flora and orchids can be observed.

We thank Robyn for show casing the Mornington Peninsula to all those present.
Photo Epacris
Alison Rogers

Interesting the things you find! After wandering the paths at Karwarra Native Botanical Gardens yesterday afternoon, I ...
19/04/2026

Interesting the things you find!

After wandering the paths at Karwarra Native Botanical Gardens yesterday afternoon, I joined a discussion on the preponderance of hybrid Grevilleas and the difference between cultivars and hybrids. Ironically I had just taken these photos of one of the young Grevillea synaphea plants beside one of the paths, showing a couple of branches which had "thrown" variegated sports. I wonder how stable this variegation might be if someone chose to try to propagate and market it as a fancily named cultivar?

Without any supplementary water, these native Australian Calostemma luteum retained some leaves all summer long. The 30...
08/03/2026

Without any supplementary water, these native Australian Calostemma luteum retained some leaves all summer long. The 300mm square 450mm deep black plastic pot they're in has been exposed to Melourne's long dry spell with no rain at all from mid December untill the last week of February. Two good soaking rains & within a week we're flowering on 600mm peduncles.

Typically they are fully dormant over summer but respond quickly to passing late summer storms in their native habitat, principally in the flat plains of central & western NSW. They will even tolerate short periods of total inundation & can often be found in roadside drainage ditches.

Calostemma are one of Australia's few true bulbs. There are 2 other species in the genus - C purpureum & C abdicatum.

Come along tonight and hear a presentation from Geoff Lay whose topic is ‘Southeast Queensland Rainforest'Geoff is, a lo...
26/02/2026

Come along tonight and hear a presentation from Geoff Lay whose topic is ‘Southeast Queensland Rainforest'

Geoff is, a long-time APS Maroondah member and is no stranger to us. He has provided a number of talks on various subjects over the years. He is a well-known naturalist, photographer and volunteer for the Australian Plants Society (APS) and the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. He frequently speaks at APS meetings throughout Victoria on various topics, including the flora and fungi of specific regions like Wilsons Promontory and the Grampians, as well as bushfire recovery and desert plants.
At our February meeting Geoff will talk about 'Southeast Queensland Rainforest.’

The meeting will be held at the Ringwood East Elderly Citizens Hall, 2-8 Laurence Grove, Ringwood East.
Parking is available behind the hall, accessed via Knaith Road (Melway map 50 B8). Entry is via the front door or side door, from 7.00 pm. The meeting starts at 7-30pm.
Visitors welcome.
Photo Licuala ramsayii Licuala Fan Palm
Alison Rogers

Don't be reluctant to prune although not all natives are as responsive as this to pruning. A little and frequently is m...
10/02/2026

Don't be reluctant to prune although not all natives are as responsive as this to pruning. A little and frequently is my motto when it comes to pruning but sometimes I forget and drastic action is called for.
Back at the end of November I posted a couple of pics of strong regrowth on my heavily pruned Grevillea 'Superb'. The pics were taken about 5-6 weeks after pruning. This is the before and what it looks like today. After the initial photo was taken, I actually pruned it back further, about half way along the horizontal section of the trunk.
In the past, I have achieved similar results with a rather rampant 'Peaches and Cream'

Before Christmas we saw some festive red Christmas Bells - Blandfordia punicea & Rhododendron lochiae. Perhaps not the ...
28/01/2026

Before Christmas we saw some festive red Christmas Bells - Blandfordia punicea & Rhododendron lochiae. Perhaps not the traditional Christmas Bells that we might be familiar with here in Australia - Blandfordia grandiflora. Well better late than never, here they are now, flowering at the end of January (January Bells?) and what a display, the best I have ever achieved with 11 separate inflorescences on the one plant.

There are 4 species of Blandfordia, 2 only occasionally grown by enthusiasts featuring here and in the previous post, with the other 2 species Blandfordia cunninghamii & Blandfordia nobilis, to my knowledge, totally absent from amenity horticulture. Requiring ample moisture during their growing and flowering phase but also demanding very well drained soils, they can be tricky to grow. Perhaps I was a little naieve in my enthusiastic youth and early days of growing our amazing wildflowers, thinking that this plant would in due course be a future feature of the cut flower industry!

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Address: Ringwood East Senior Citizens Club 2-8 Laurence Grove
Ringwood East, VIC
3135

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