21 January – Mary Moody – 70 years of gardening in the Blue Mountains.
Come and celebrate our birthday with a special Morning Tea and Cake.
Mary Moody is an Australian author who trained as a journalist at The Australian Women’s Weekly and was a long-time presenter on Gardening Australia. She has written more than forty gardening books and five memoirs – Au Revoir, Last Tango in Toulouse, The Long Hot Summer, Sweet Surrender and The Accidental Tour Guide. She lives in the Blue Mountains and has supported our club many times in the past.
Guest Speakers 2024
16 January – Frances Scarano and Anne Rickwood – Blue Mountains Wild Plant Rescue Service ... read more
The Blue Mountains Wildplant Rescue Service (BMWRS) – the first of its kind in Australia – was formed in 1994 to help protect and promote the natural values of the Blue Mountains. Initially involved in simply rescuing and rehoming wild native plants, BMWRS opened its own propagating nursery in 1998 in order to supply larger numbers of truly local plants for bush care groups, landscapers and the local Council.
Our speakers have been volunteers at the BMWRS for many years and will explain how they carry out propagation from seeds and cuttings, rescue endangered plants and develop new methods to increase the range of plants offered by the Wildplant Nursery.
After the talk join us for a ramble at Joan and Kevin Brown’s garden – followed by lunch at Lily’s Pad Leura.
20 February – Alexandre Feliz, All about Mushrooms ... read more
Manu is from ‘Earthrising Lawson’ a low-tech Mushroom Farm, which grows gourmet and medicinal Mushrooms using g home growing kits. Manu is also a founding member for the Farm it Forward Movement.
After the talk join us for a ramble at Joan and Kevin Brown’s garden – followed by lunch at Alexandra Hotel, Leura.
19 March – Bryn Hutchinson – Flower Meadows: Why Grow Them & How to Ensure Their Success ... read more
Creating flower meadows is a popular and sometimes affordable way to create a dramatic display of colour in a garden and create habitat for wildlife and beneficial insects. However, if not done well they can also be expensive and time consuming, or fail completely. Drawing on my time as the Senior Horticulturalist in charge of the popular spring meadow at Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and my own experiments and research with flower meadow plantings I will discuss how to plan, grow and manage your own flower meadow for a successful and flourishing outcome.
After the talk join us for a ramble at Murray Bailey’s garden and then lunch at RSL Katoomba.
16 April – Rhiannon Phillips, Market Gardening in the Mountains ... read more
Rhiannon will explain her methods for establishing a market garden in the mountains. Many of he principles can be used in our gardens. Her business name is Mountain Gourmet,
After the talk join us for a ramble at Joan and Kevin Brown’s garden and lunch at the Family Hotel in Katoomba
21 May – Robert Trinajtic – Water Features ... read more
I was influenced by my grandparents and worked the ground for productive purposes. In Australia, my mother was creative and taught me the practice of gardening, design and the general needs and behaviour of vegetation. My father was a home designer and builder whom I would assist during my home years. I was living two lives, the white-collar professional during business hours and the gardener after hours and on weekends.
Although my professional life was fruitful, it didn’t provide a deep joy and purpose. I found joy in my garden, endless hedges and perennials, and the reward of the abundance of roses, hydrangeas and liliums. I am excited by timber construction and commenced building arbours, window boxes, awnings and sheds. I love the thrill of finding the perfect piece to achieve a visual and functional result, these are the things I look forward to.
The office and gardening nexus needed to break, and this became more apparent when I was continually sought out by others to create and guide the design of their outdoor spaces. People would come to take photos from the street, and those who were more persistent wanted tours. Without realising it, my home garden had become a beacon to those who dreamt or sought inspiration to create their own outdoor spaces. My vision is to renew the timeless garden in a modern world. I have taken my passion for the garden, design and construction and created Hedge & Arbour.
After the talk join us for a ramble at Roz and Neil Sin’s garden followed by lunch at Lily’s Pad in Leura.
18 June – Robin Johnson – Winter Propagation Workshop ... read more
Learn the skills of propagation in this hands on workshop. Robin will cover propagation by cuttings, layering, division, grafting, and hardwood cuttings. He has prepared Winter propagation to provide a handy reference for members.
After the talk join us for a ramble in the Woolworths car park to see the compost corner then we will go for lunch at The Leura Chinese restaurant.
Lis Bastian was recognized as the Environmental Citizen of the Year for her dedication to sustainability and community well-being. Lis co-founded The Big Fix Inc, a not-for-profit organization that started as a climate action group in Blackheath. Their mission is to “Change the story” by fostering a collaborative, solutions-focused culture. They achieve this through projects like the Blackheath Community Farm and media services such as The Big Fix magazine and Global Solutions Digests1. The project has:
initiated the Blackheath Community Market and organized bulk buys for hazelnut trees and solar panels.
attracted nearly $100,000 in funding, employing local storytellers (including youth) and supporting the Community Farm.
strengthened the local community by sharing stories and providing an alternative to mainstream media.
Lis is currently involved in Grounded, a project offering free Permaculture Design Course for young people aged 16-24. The course includes training on land design and social enterprise, empowering youth in the Blue Mountains.
July is a bill chilly for a ramble but join us for lunch after the talk at the Alexander Hotel in Leura.
20 August – Rhiannon Phillips – Keeping Poultry ... read more
Rhiannon runs Mountain gourmet/organic edible vegetables but she is equally knowledgeable about her chucks. Rhiannon has a degree in Animal and Veterinary Bioscience from the University of Sydney with honours in Livestock Production Systems.
Her range of experience has lead her all over Eastern and Central Australia working on a number of farms. From pumpkins in Mareeba to Santa Gertrudis cattle in Alice Springs and 500 cell grazed chickens in Lower Portland. She has been working and studying in the agricultural industry for 10 years
Her business is now two years old and focuses on growing a diverse selection of seasonal crops organically, to supply local restaurants and to serve as a demonstration site for my workshops and educational courses.
Join us afterwards for a ramble at Marian Haire’s garden followed by lunch at the Katoomba Family Hotel.
17 September – Sue Carney – Bees in your Garden ... read more
Sue is an Association executive member of the Australian Beekeepers Association. She said since 2019 membership had risen from about 300 to just over 400 with lots of people taking up the hobby. Her talk will cover the types of bees you find in the mountains, What beneficial flowers and habitat to establish in your garden if you want to attract bees. Learn about which gardening actions help or harm bees and finally why bees so important to our backyards.
Blue Mountains Beekeepers club was launched in November 2018 to support amateur beekeepers and encourage interest in honeybees and native bees in the region.
Members with any level of beekeeping experience gather once a month to learn, swap tips, catch up with friends, meet like-minded beekeepers, and discuss anything and everything to do with bees. We meet at our apiary in Lawson.
Sue keeps honey bees at Wentworth Falls where she has been living for over 20 years and is the founding member of Blue Mountains Beekeepers. Sue will explain why Bees are the most important pollinators on earth. She will cover the following topics:
-The types of bees you find in the mountains
-Attracting bees to the garden (beneficial flowers and habitat)
-Gardening actions that help or harm bees.
-Why bees are important to our backyards
A worker bee lives less than 40 days. Visits at least 1000 flowers and produces less than one teaspoon of honey. For the bee it is a life. Thank you bees!
Join us afterwards for a ramble at Cherrydell, Don Le Quesne’s garden and Chris Morsby’s Foggylorne followed by lunch at the Lily Pad in Leura.
15 October – Mat Murray – Mt Tomah Botanic Garden Turkish delights... read more
Mat travelled to the Taurus Mountains of Turkey looking at the plants, especially the bulbs that are found growing in this area. The talk not only focuses on plants but the culture and people of this region.
Matt is a Horticulturist, who has been working for the Royal Botanic gardens, based at The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah for 30 years. He has a personal interest in cold climate bulbs, with a particular interest in Crocus. He has travelled extensively through Europe and North Africa to see them growing in the wild and has presented internationally and locally on my travels and growing bulbs in my collection.
Join us afterwards for a ramble at Steve Ingram’s home in Katoomba followed by lunch at the Katoomba RSL.
19 November – Anthea Hinchcliffe –Heritage Roses
Anthea and Scott are true locals, living at their Wentworth Falls property for 48 years! Anthea will be talking about their 15-acre property which has old established deciduous and conifer trees in a parkland setting. There are water features and views of Sydney. Her Heritage rose garden includes 115 roses. She will give a talk on 4 categories of Heritage Roses.
Join us afterwards for a ramble through Anthea and Scott’s garden followed by lunch at the Conservation Hut at Wentworth falls.
10 December – Christmas Lunch – Grandview Hotel, Wentworth Falls
Join us at 12 midday for a 2 course lunch $70. Please book and make a payment to Marian Haire at October or November meeting.
Past Years Speakers
2023
17 January – Sharon Baldwin, Author, The Gardeneers, Kids Permaculture
21 February – Robin Johnson, Propagation and Grafting
21 March– Brenda Lyon – All about Daffodils
18 April – Robert Trinajiscic from Hedge and Arbour
16 May – Robyn Bible – All about Geraniums and Pelargoniums
20 June – Michael Barnes – Irises
18 July – Matt Stephens – Tree Hollows
15 August – Bryn Hutchinson – Firdaus Gardens
19 September – Sue Cunningham – Protecting our Bushland
17 October – Graham Jurd – In Defence of Ferns
12 December – Christmas Lunch – The Bunker, Leura
2022
Purple bluebell flower
15 February – Liz Benson, Pollination
15 March – Lis Bastian, About Permaculture
19 April – Duncan Leys, My garden
17 May – Oliver Kelly, Frog Habitats
21 June – Neville Burns, Snakes of the Blue Mountains
19 July – Peter Green, Pyrolysis and Biochar
16 August – David White and Bridget Moseley, Leura Garden Festival plus Queens Platinum Morning Tea
20 September – Vicky Austin, Citizen Science
18 October – Robin Johnson, The gardener through history
15 November – Lyndall Crompton, Saving the Shipley Apple
