Buderim Garden Club

 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.”

Our Guest speaker, Ann Sutherland from the S.C. Council gave a very interesting talk on the families that have lived in the heritage listed Bankfoot House.  The initial family (with 10 children) and the 2 descendant families demolished quite a few different structures and built the current homestead.  The existing plants have been self seeded from the original flora.  The House is open at no charge to the public  and would be well worth a visit.

Our Club member Yves Daniel  (Danny) told us it was time to mulch in this current wet time and gave tips on lawn grubs and other garden pests , nut grass eradication and finished with a couple of jokes.

Photos above:  Joy Goulding won the Lucky Door prize (an orchid), the Manawee plant of the month (a dwarf frangipani called Cherry Clusters) and Geoff Cole in charge of New Members registrations.

Below is Danny,  Monika  and Steve.