Monthly newsletter for Coffs Garden Club

1. 8
CHGC Newsletter No. 120 August 2016
Changes to our meeting venue will be
advised in the newsletter, our website
and on facebook.
Any cancellations to outings will be
advised in the same manner.
Fri 2 Sep
5:00pm
Closing Date for Spring Garden Competition Entries
Mon 5 -
Fri 9 Sep
Judging ‘Snow Pea Teepee’ School growing Competition and
Council Roundabouts
Wed 7 Sep
9:15am
Air-side Garden Maintenance @ Coffs Regional Airport
Meet outside the Admin Building with gloves & tools
Sat 10 Sep
6:30pm
SGC Judges, Stewards and Drivers Briefing and Dinner @
Park Beach Bowling Club
Sun 11 Sep
Mon 12 Sep
Tues 13 Sep
Spring Garden Competition Judging:
Coffs City Area & Orara Valley
Toormina, Sawtell, Boambee & Bonville Residential entries
Schools, Industrial/Commercial and Community entries
Northern Beaches from Diggers Beach to Corindi entries
Fri 16 Sep
7pm
Presentation Night for the Spring Garden Competition. CHGC
members help is needed for catering, flower arranging, set-up
and break-down at the Cavanbah Centre from 5pm—see
page 5 for contact phone numbers.
Sat 17 Sep
1:30pm
Monthly Meeting Botanic Garden Display Room
Guest Speaker—
There is NO planned outing for September
Meetings are held the 3rd Sat of the month (Jan-Nov) and commence at
1:30pm, Botanic Garden Display Room, Hardacre St, Coffs Harbour
Any meeting venue changes will be advised in the newsletter, CHGC website
and on facebook.
CHGC welcomes anyone who has great ideas on how to meet the needs of
our membership. Please call Geoff if you would like more information on the
various roles within the Club or to discuss your ideas T:6656 2429.
President: Geoff Bell 6656 2429
email: presidentchgc@gmail.com
Secretary: Michael Reid 6650 9485
email: secretarychgc@gmail.com
Treasurer: Anne-Maree Ely 6656 4229
email: treasurerchgc@gmail.com
www.coffsgardenclub.com
Editor: Maria Bell 6656 2429
Email contributions/feedback to:
coffsharbourgardenclub@gmail.com
Coffs Harbour
Garden Club Inc.
Newsletter Number 120
August 2016

2. 2
CHGC Newsletter No. 120 August 2016
FLOWER OF THE MONTH
September, Spring Flowering Annual
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH
Let’s not waste our waste. Former CH Councillor Bill Palmer
A flowering annual is a plant that grows, flowers, sets seed and dies in the
one season. Their rapid growth habit makes them ideal for livening up a
garden quickly with wonderful splashes of colour. Flowering annuals are not
as popular here on the Coffs coast as the perception is that they are more
suited to temperate gardens further south.
Flowering annuals are just perfect for mass planting and can be used to great
effect creating that WOW factor to gardens. There is a garden in St James
Avenue which enters the Spring Garden Competition each year using spring
flowering annuals in massed plantings and it always looks just stunning.
Growing plants under trees can sometimes be problematic because of com-
petition from tree roots. This is where flowering annuals come into their own
as they have shallow root systems and will grow happily under large trees.
There are literally dozens of varieties suitable for growing on the Coffs Coast
including kalanchoe, violas, pansies, snapdragons, salvias and marigolds.
You could even have a stab at growing beds of cyclamen which are really not
an annual but they can be used in the same way in warm climates—that is in
mass plantings. Others that do really well are cineraria and calceolaria—
known as ‘Lady’s Slipper’. Daffodils are the harbinger of spring and when
grown here on the Coffs Coast they should be treated as an annual as their
bulbs usually rot in our heavy wet soils during the summer. Iceland poppies
are another great spring display annual—this year (and also last year), the
roundabout near the Coles Supermarket in Harbour Drive is planted with
Poppies and it looks absolutely amazing (even though the wind knocks them
about a bit) [this roundabout is pictured above].
7
Pruning to stimulate summer flowers
I was recently asked when is the best
time to prune Hibiscus—the answer is
NOW! This applies to any of the
summer flowering shrubs we have growing in our gardens including:
Angels trumpet, Chinese lantern, and to name but a few. A general
rule of thumb is, if your Hibiscus/shrub is a vigorous grower it will need
a serious prune back, by up to about 1/2. If it is a slower growing varie-
ty prune by 1/3. To keep your shrub looking its best, during your prune
remove any diseased or dead branches. When you have completed
the prune, FEED—Hibiscus and other summer flowering shrubs will
benefit from a feed after pruning to encourage fast, strong and healthy
regrowth and lots and lots of beautiful flowers. After a good watering
MULCH around your shrubs to inhibit weed growth.
REMINDER: always have clean, sharp tools when pruning and sterilize
tools between each plant.
Tasks for this month:
 Lift, divide and replant canna lily, heliconia, ornamental
ginger, liriope and mondo grass.
 Trim winter flowering natives such as wattle and crowea
when they finish their flowering flush.
 Fertilise azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias and camellias.
 Re-pot any pot-bound indoor plants, dust off and gently
wash foliage and apply a good quality liquid fertilizer.
 Remove winter weeds before they set seed and chip
spring weed seedlings with a hoe.
 Plant annual seedlings to welcome in Spring/Summer with
a splash of colour.

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CHGC Newsletter No. 120 August 2016
Both Jane and Gavin had interesting presentations at the August meeting.
Jane talked about our National Flower
Emblem, Wattle (Acacia)
Gavin’s plant of study was
Areca Bestiaria
The full presentations can be seen on our website at
coffsgardenclub.com
Quiz Answers
1. The Queensland Maple which is not only used for furni-
ture but is a favourite with guitar makers for the back and
sides of guitars because it’s a neutral sounding timber.
2. Champak is a large evergreen tree from the
Magnoliaceae family with fragrant flowers in varying
shades of cream to yellow-orange and its timber is used
in wood working.
3. Mucuna pruriens, also known as velvet bean, has been used by
ancient healers and is making waves in the scientific community.
Ayurvedic herbal medicine has relied on Mucuna pruriens since 1500
BC to support ailments such as snakebite, intestinal disorders, sexual
response and melancholy mood!
4. Chamelaucium axillare—Esperance Wax.
5. Quitch grass—a very common perennial species of grass native to
most of Europe, Asia, the Arctic biome and northwest Africa. It has
whitish-yellow root stocks which allows it to spread freely.
6. The cashew nut. The actual ‘apple’ looks very attractive with its red
cheeks and is high in Vitamin C, refreshing and very juicy however a
bit on the acidic side. It also leaves a furry feeling in your mouth!! The
cashew nut itself is inside a funny looking, kidney shaped shell that is
attached to the bottom of the cashew apple. Also inside that shell is a
very nasty, caustic liquid that causes severe burns, so one needs to be
very careful when handling it. Just who was the first person to try this
one? Sounds quite challenging ‘in the raw’.
7. Jonquil—a sweet scented bulb which would have to be one of the most
indestructible and easy to grow of all bulbs. Here on the Coffs Coast
they need to be planted quite deeply in a shady area.
8. Honeyeaters—family Meliphagidae and includes honeyeaters, wattle-
birds, friarbirds, miners, spinebills and chats.
3
What a busy few weeks the Club has had since the July
monthly meeting! First up was the Spring Garden Comp
launch at Total Gardens where literally hundreds of people,
including many of our members, turned out to support Coffs
Harbour’s premier privately-owned nursery and garden cen-
tre. A big thank you goes to Margaret Crawley, Anne-Maree
Ely and Maria Bell for doing such a sterling job looking after
the raffle on the day. And thanks to everyone from the Club
who came along to support Julie and Paul.
Our club then hosted the inaugural meeting of what I hope will become the
Coffs Coast Floral Art Group. This was also a great day with forty people
really enjoying the demonstration given by national floral art champion, Judith
Little, who was very ably supported by the President of the Royal Horticultural
Society of NSW, Cecily Rogers. In the coming weeks I will be helping the
committee of five who have volunteered to do the leg work required to get the
floral art group established. Even though the new group will be a completely
separate entity, I believe a strong relationship will no doubt develop between
it and the CHGC, particularly when it comes to people being members of both,
and also through our joint support of the Coffs Harbour Show.
August also saw the Mid North Coast Garden Clubs Zone Friendship Day
held at SW Rocks. An intrepid group from our club were treated to a lovely
day with good speakers, an excellent floral art demonstration, friendships
started and renewed, and plenty of opportunities to buy some lovely plants
from the trading table. Many thanks to Pat Roser for arranging the bus.
In addition to all of that, the Spring Garden Comp has been bubbling away
nicely. Entries are coming in, the publicity effort is well underway, sponsorship
support has been finalised and admin preparations are going well. So I hope
this year’s Comp will be as good and closely contested as previous years’
competitions.
With that in mind, please think seriously about entering your gardens – the
more the merrier and, as always, entry is free and there are some great prizes
to be won. But more importantly, it’s all about having a go, as well as doing
your bit towards helping beautify our city area.
We will need help on the presentation night on Fri 16 Sep. Thanks to John
Staggs who is coordinating the set-up and clean up, Margaret Crawley who’s
coordinating the catering and Jennine Young who’s coordinating the floral
arrangements for the Hall—their contact phone numbers can be found on
page 5. In addition we will need people to run the raffle and welcome guests.
It would be great if all club members could be there on the night to help out –
many hands make light work!
President’s Message
Geoff Bell

4. 4
CHGC Newsletter No. 120 August 2016
1. A popular north-eastern Australian tree producing timber widely used
for furniture.
2. What is the common name for the Asian tree Magnolia champaca?
3. A tropical climbing bean plant starting with the letter ‘M’.
4. This beautiful wildflower shrub which prefers to grow in non-calcareous
sands and found growing freely around the Esperance region of WA, is
called?
5. Another name for couch grass is?
6. What does the cashew apple produce?
7. A bulb with clusters of small, fragrant yellow or white flowers which are
flowering now.
8. Australian birds adapted for feeding on nectar are called?
If you are wanting up-to-date information
about our club or activities please visit our
website at www.coffsgardenclub.com
Wishing the following members a
very happy Birthday:
Laurie Andrews, Geoff Bell,
Jane Durler, Jeff Fry
Annette Gardner, Ken Hoy
Lorraine Ross & Robyn Tozer
(for answers see page 6)
Many thanks to CHGC members who supported both the club and Total
Gardens on Sunday 31 July. There was some confusion about the date be-
cause the Coramba Rural Fire Brigade had another event on the Sat, so the
launch day/member’s day was changed to the Sunday.
Results for the Launch Day raffle:
1st Jean Urquhart—flowering orchid
2nd Cheryl O’Neill—bromeliad
3rd Jo Egan—Margaret Crawley’s hand made cards (thanks Margaret)
5
Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads, Grandfathers, Pops,
Poppys, Grand-dads, Pas, Grand-pas, Gramps,
Grumpys, Father-in-laws or whatever
your ‘tag’ may be!
Just kick back and hand the BBQ
tongs to someone else on
Sunday 4 September.
GARDEN COMPETITION PRESENTATION NIGHT—16 SEP
1. As you are aware the Spring Garden Competition has been
launched and entries are now coming in. There is something that
we, as members can do to boost entries in this competition. When
you are out and about the Coffs area if you see a good garden, stop
and place an entry form in their letterbox or better still knock on their
door and tell them that their garden is just lovely and worthy of an
entry in the garden competition. Entry forms with a little note have
been handed out to members at the Aug meeting but if you haven’t
got any, just mention that entry forms are available from nurseries,
Coffs Landscape Centre, Mitre 10 Woopi and also on our website.
2. At the Aug meeting Margaret Crawley had a sheet where
members jotted down what they intended bringing for supper. If
you were not at that meeting and are helping out with the
catering, could you please give Margaret a call and let her know
what you intend bringing 6656 1481
The CHGC have a really enviable reputation around town for put-
ting on an excellent ‘old fashioned supper’ and it would be
wonderful if this reputation were to continue. Please give
Margaret a call so she can then decide what food the catering
committee should prepare/purchase. Please deliver by 6:30pm.
Remember too folks, that people are standing around so finger
food is best as it’s hard to juggle food, a hot cup of tea or coffee
and chat!
3. Assistance with set-up and break down are required too.
John Staggs 0432 414 459 will need some ‘muscles’ to help set
up the tables and chairs from 5:00pm.
4. Folks if you could bring in your foliage, flowers & large
vases at 5:00pm and help out with the floral arrangements that
would be fantastic—contact Jeannine Young 0413 883 831.
Thank you
WNEEDYOURELP