Buderim Garden Club

At the General Meeting before the normal Monthly June Meeting, President John Lyon outlined how the Arbour Project should look like using artist impression slides.

He described that the location of the Arbour will be adjacent to the children's play area in the Village Green, opposite the Buderim Memorial Hall. On one side it will display historical placards of the Buderim  Garden Club's 75 years of operation, and on the other side there'll be a similar display of the BWMCA's activities. 

BWMCA stands for Buderim War Memorial Community Association and is the umbrella body for over 70 affiliated organisations of Buderim.

The BGC members unanimously approved the BGC donation of $10,000 towards the Project. This is after our $2,000 donation for the feasibility study.

BGC & BWMCA  contributed $10,000 each, and $5,000 from Ted Hungerford, which allowed the project to be fully funded.

The members also unanimously  approved changes to the constitution to allow for electronic voting and communications via emails.

The Guest Speaker was Sharon Koski from Greenshed of Palmwoods, who gave a most interesting talk on Edible flowers, Microgreens, and growing herbs. With her assistant holding up the flowers, Sharon informed us that approx. 50% of flowers (mainly the petals and never pollen)  are edible - e.g. cosmos, pentas, chrysanthemums, some natives, begonias, single and double snap dragons, marigolds and the well known nasturtiums and marigolds. Many, such as gerberas, are excellent adornments on cakes or even as a swiggle stick in a drink! Sharon sells to many cafes and gourmet restaurants on the coast, with good products being hickory and dandelions and mixtures of salad flower petals .

There were 2 Amigos, Ken & Robin, with Steve stewarding at the Nambour Agriculture show. Some other committee members have been on duty at this show, and the committee agreed to donate $200 to the Show Society to help with costs.  Ken told us which plants and seeds we should be planting now (not  ones that are cheaply available and take a while to mature (e.g. carrots). Robin produced a cotton pod to show what it looked like on a plant and delved into the cotton to get the tiny seed.  Talk centred on increasing a potato yield and how to nurture the shoots (Monika is the expert on this).  Bev was told to be patient in waiting for native bees to start inhabiting her new bee hive.....

Secretary Rosemary gave out the notices, all of which are posted on the Noticeboard, and stated the upcoming events and festivals.

There were lots of lovely raffle prizes including some fertilizer from Andy of Rocky Point Nursery (May's guest speaker) and a $50 voucher from Sharon.  Manawee plants are always in excellent condition and worth buying the raffle tickets to win one.

Bookings are still being taken for the Wed. July 14th Christmas in July bus trip and the Anniversary Lunch (Friday August 13th).
See details under the headings above.

Abbreviated notes from Kim Bendall on the BGC monthly meeting May 14th, 2021.

Meeting Numbers were down this month. Thank you to members who entered flowers and foliage even though the hailstorm bedraggled our gardens recently.  Entries were down but still beautiful. New members, be encouraged to continue to enter as there is plenty of help on hand to learn. It was lovely to hear the buzz in the room as friends of gardening met each other. Our Treasurer Vonnie sadly not present this month. We wish her a speedy recovery from her illness. Thank you to Monika for stepping into her position.

Plant of the month was a potted chrysanthemum. A spectacular rounded plant with an abundance of mauve coloured daisy like flowers. 
The lucky door prize was a deep red Dipladenia. Lovely in a pot on a patio or trailing up a fence.

Marion had a wonderful display for the Photography competition “Ferns”.
Elizabeth Hales won 1st prize, Helen Wallace 2nd, Robert Wilson 3rd. Many certificates were made for Very and Highly Commended with Judges comments always useful. Homemade cards on display for sale also.  Next month’s theme is “Autumn colours”

Marion also printed out copies of the GCA’s 2021 annual photographic competition entry form. Closing date for entries is the 1st of October.

Our usual tables of Plant sales, tour bookings, Seed table, treasurer and library were running and manned by our wonderful, co-opted helpers. Free Loofahs for cleaning your shower were on offer, grown in Karen O’Connor’s garden.

Our new EFTPOS machine was in use for payments. $10 minimum purchase.

John Lyon opened the meeting, wearing the new BGC shirt which he and Marion modelled. The committee have been looking to find new shirts during our 75th anniversary year. We wanted cooler shirts; some people found the older shirts to be too warm in our climate. Members can still wear the older shirts if they prefer.  Kim will be placing an order with Totally Workwear. To order please call Kim on 0419005984. Costs are approx. $42.95 for men and $42.00 for women

The 75th Anniversary meal will be on August 13th at the Buderim Tavern, cost is $36. Bookings are being taken.

A huge thanks to Patricia James who has stood down from the committee and handed over newsletter editor duties to Jim Hales. A gift card was presented to Patricia.

John Leach was welcomed to the committee. John will be of technology help to Rosemary, our secretary.

John Lyon gave an update of our grant submissions: we will be able to train 10 First Aiders, purchase a portable PA system, a new computer, and contribute towards the Arbor project.

Craig Duncan from Rocky point nursery gave us an interesting slide show about their products which have developed from sugarcane grown around the Woongoolba area. He was passionate about their organic products such as Activ grow,  Coco pro potting mix, an orchid mix, pine bark, tea tree, cypress and bags of sugarcane mulch. He donated generously samples of his goods, some of which were raffled. His products are found at Manawee.

Rosemary Simmons our secretary told us about events coming up. The Esk fair is on June 19th.

She asks if anyone uses a Mac processor, as she could do with some technology help.

The Queensland Garden festival is on July 9th ,10th, and 11th. Tickets are now online. The theme is an “Enchanted Garden”.

The member’s talk was given by Rosemary  on “Tradescantia”. This was so informative - I had no idea that there was such a large genus of this plant - more so than just the “Wandering Jew”.

Knowledgeable members are asked to share their wisdom of gardening in a small 10-minute talk.

Steve Wikman gave a report of the recent workshop held at Bev and Aart’s house on the 28th  April.  31 people were there, and many took home armfuls of cuttings.

The next bus trip will be Christmas in July, visiting Stepps nursery in Caloundra, then to Maleny hotel  for lunch and afterwards to Karen Spencer’s wholesale nursery. The cost of the meal is included in the cost of the bus and will be approx. $55.   Bookings are being taken.

Raffles and afternoon tea were enjoyed by all and meeting closed at 3.45.

 Kim Bendall reports on the meeting:

Thank you to those who made it to the meeting last Friday even though we had to wear masks and be spaced appropriately for the current Covid safety requirements. We missed those who could not attend and hope that these few notes will help you keep up with our news. We had 75 attendees, lower than normal but let us hope we can continue as near to normal by next month.

** Unfortunately, the planned guest speaker Danial Lawton was one of those who could not attend but  John Northy from the Office of Fair Trading was able to give us a very educational talk on what his office can do for us especially with the current influx of telephone, email, and mobile phone scams. Notably it is important to register any scams with John Northy’s office (13 QGOV or 137468) as they can help with advice and are always on the lookout for new ones. You can lodge a request for no calls with a register donotcall.gov.au or telephone 1300 792 958. They also supply you with stickers to put on your door to stop unwanted door to door callers. Currently biggest scams are tax, car Insurance, dating and romance scams. All more prevalent due to Covid19 and the over 65s are probably at home more, possibly alone and so more vulnerable. Another website to visit is the scamwatch.gov.au which gives you an idea of what is currently going around.   To protect your ID ring 9180055160. John was very approachable and welcomed your questions. So many scams are under registered.

** Secretary Rosemary spoke about how she was trying to rectify any email problems for those who found they were not getting messages. Communication is very important, and she is trying to persuade us all to use the website where all information relevant to the club can be found. Please come forward to volunteer any interesting talk to give during member’s talk time. There is no limit for the Salvia workshop, which is being held at Bev and Aart Schouten’s, 28 Saratoga Drive, Mountain Creek on Wed. 28th April 9-11 a.m. List was at the front of the hall for those wishing to go but please register with Rosemary if keen to go.  Steve Wickman is organizing the pre-packed morning tea ($2) but please bring a mug. He will also be talking about cuttings in Autumn, black pots in summer and fertilizing Roses.

** There are 10 places left for the bus tour: lists are with Karen at the back of the hall where you can pay and notify where your preferred pick up is. $35 payment can be made online to BSB:633 000 our acc: 156 314 106. Tour date is Wed April 21 to Bankfoot House, Glass House Mountain lookout, lunch at the Beerwah Hotel and a visit to Steve Flood’s nursery (It may be cash only) at Mooloolah valley.

** John Lyons recommended members download the Qld hospitality app so that we are not held up entering the hotel for lunch. Karen will pass around the choices we can make on the bus to speed up ordering. She is supplying the hotel with a list of diners so we may not need to register before entering but be prepared. It is a good app to have in any case.

** Carol Willis now manages the plant stall for members to sell plants. She and Reg Gibson displayed healthy pots for sale.  Now is also the time for us to start thinking of potting up some fine specimens to sell at our October show.

** The 3 Amigos gave a wonderful variety of talks.
Robin talked about a Wanted advert he saw for 30 English Oaks which led him to give a talk about how depleted the forests are from using this strong wood in the past. It was used for sailing ships such as during the Napoleonic war and in the framework for Notre Dame Cathedral that was devastatingly burnt a few years back but now renovated. Robin has a great passion for trees and his talk and slide show demonstrated this.

Ken produced 2 types of spinach and asked us to guess their names. One was the Okinawa or Japanese spinach, which had a purplish under leaf colour – good for stir frying.

Steve spoke about the Assassin bug and preparing plants for the festival. He says he hopes to run a workshop about this but also encourages members to submit flowers regularly through the year where he can give advice.

There was a wonderful display again today with some new and regular members having a go.

** Thank you, Marion, for your tips on better photography, the display of 1st 2nd and 3rd were at the back of the hall.  Certificates beautifully printed for those very highly and highly commended. Marion also makes up cards using members' photographs which you can purchase for $2. Funds go to the BGC.

The April theme was A Garden Scene, Private or Public.
John Lyons 1st, Elizabeth Hales 2nd/3rd. There were 57 entries. Next month: "Ferns", entries due by April 30th.

** The lucky door prize was an Orchid, Brassidium, White Knight.

** The Manawee plant of the month was a Gumbi Gumbi, an edible Bush Tucker.

Thank you to all who contributed towards the communication survey devised by Jim Hayles. We are interested in finding someone to manage our communications and this survey helps enormously.

Raffles and afternoon tea were enjoyed by all.

The Meeting closed at 3.45pm

 March Meeting Guest Speaker:   Karen Shaw from Brush Turkey Enterprises & Forest Heart Native Eco-Nursery

President John Lyon introduced Karen:

“Karen Shaw, together with her husband Spencer, own and manage Brush Turkey Enterprises.

This small family run business, based on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland @ Maleny, is focused on conservation of our wonderful local ecosystems. The business includes consultancy, education, bush regeneration and two native plant nurseries – a wholesale production nursery and a retail nursery called Forest Heart eco-Nursery.

Karen is passionate about native plants – with bush-foods as a particular interest. She has presented at various events and ran successful “Wildfood Saturday” events in previous years.”