|
Palm & Cycad Societies of Australia (P.A.C.S.O.A.)
Click here for the latest news from PACSOA
Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia Information from individual branches of PACSOA is included under the News section. PACSOA branches are:
• Brisbane Palm & Cycad Society
• Sunshine Coast Branch
• Palm & Cycad Society of Mackay
• Northern Territory Palm & Cycad Soc.
• Palm & Cycad Soc. of South Australia
Website: http://www.pacsoa.org.au/index.html
Board Officers and Directors
Tom Turner, Chairperson of the Board
President: Rudy Meyers
Vice President: Cheryl Basic
Treasurer: Will Kraa
Secretary and Editor: Greg Cuffe
Editors: John Price and David TanswellPhilip Arrowsmith, Lou Randall, Ted van Ginneken, Jeanne Price and Werner Raff
Contact Information
Palms and Cycads magazine or about P.A.C.S.O.A. Bookstore: Tom Turner
P.A.C.S.O.A. Seed Bank: Rudy Meyer or Cheryl Basic
Membership or general inquiries:. Greg Cuffe
Publications
PALMS & CYCADS, journal of P.A.C.S.O.A.
Publication: 4 times per year, with color covers and well illustrated articles about palms and cycads. Average length: 30-40 A5-sized (5.75X8.25") pages per issue.
Subscription/Membership fee: A$25 (Australian residents) or A$35 (non Australian residents) plus initial A$5 first time "joining fee". Occasionally issues of PALMS & CYCADS are devoted entirely to specific topics.
To subscribe: Send checks in Australian currency to:Palm & Cycad Societies of Australia,
P.O. Box 1134,
Milton, QLD 4064
Australia.
e-mail : enquiries@pacsoa.org.au or visit the website, http://www.pacsoa.org.au.Monthly Chapter Newsletters
The chapters shown below issue a newsletter that is a 1-12 page monthly or bimonthly summary of previous meetings and events and notice of future meetings, with occasional other information as appropriate. Most are printed on full A4-sized (8.25X11.5") paper. Australian residents add A$5 per year to P.A.C.S.O.A. membership fee and non-Australian residents add A$10 per year for subscription. Contact addresses for these individual P.A.C.S.O.A. branches are shown below:
Branches
Northern Territory Palm and Cycad Society,
P. O. Box 37979, Winnellie, N.T. 0821, Australia
JOURNAL OF THE PALM SOCIETY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORYPalm & Cycad Society of South Australia,
P. O. Box 390, Prospect, South Australia, 5082 Australia
NEWSLETTER OF THE PALM & CYCAD SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIABrisbane Palm and Cycad Society (formerly South Queensland Group),
Secretary,
PACSOA - BPACS,
P. O. Box 376, Ashgrove,
4060, Australia, or e-mail Mark Wuschke or Hugh Kunze.Sunshine Coast Branch, PACSOA
The Secretary, Palm & Cycad Society
Sunshine Coast Group,
P. O. Box 1007, Nambour,
QLD 4560,
Australia
E-mail Jeanne PricePalm & Cycad Society of Mackay,
P. O. Box 6639, Mackay Mail Centre,
West Mackay,
4741, Queensland, Australia,
E-mail Margaret Bazle
P. O. Box 6639, Mail Centre, West Mackay, Qld 4741
Palm and Cycad Society of Western Australia, Inc.
www.wawebsite.com.au/palmswest
Click here for latest news
Tropical Garden Society of Sydney
On September 25th the Tropical Garden Society of Sydney met at Drummoyne Senior Citizens Hall, 422 Lyons Road, Five Dock. The program was “Gardens of Bali” – a slideshow presentation by Neil & Helen Curran, with focus on both private gardens and resorts. Following their recent trip to Bali, Helen and Neil Curran prepared a digital power point presentation. They showed many of Bali’s plants and gardens, including ‘Villa Bebek’, the famed garden of expatriate Australian landscape gardener Made Wijaya (Michael White). Made has designed and built over 300 tropical style gardens including many resort gardens from South East Asia to Florida, and a Caribbean home garden for pop star David Bowie. The meeting was followed by the usual plant auction and $1 raffle.
The Sydney society held an extra meeting in October (Tuesday 23rd). There was no guest speaker but rather an informal questions and answers night to bring members up to speed. Committee members and others were available to give short cultural explanations as required. After a long coffee break for socializing, the night ended with the usual raffle and plant auction.
The Society took first prize for garden society exhibits at the recent ABC Gardening Australia Expo in Sydney. The Balinese influenced display by the Tropical Garden Society of Sydney rivaled the best of the commercial landscape theme gardens and was the only display exhibiting a collection of true tropical plants. The display was 4 m (13 ft) wide by 3 m (10 ft) deep and contained over two hundred individual plants, including anthuriums, aglaonemas, calatheas, tassel ferns, bromeliads, cycads and palms, (including 5 different cultivars of variegated Rhapis excelsa). A big ‘thank you’ to Libby Reid of Libby Reid Designs P/L and Bali Fling, importer of Balinese garden and interior artworks, for supplying a large palm tree trunk water feature, day bed, coffee table and huge antique-look carved mask to form the basis of our Balinese garden. The effort included the President, assisted by a design team including Werner Raff, Alan and Jill Collins and Helen Curran. “Thanks” also to Anthony Grassi for his help in transporting the plants to and from the venue and assisting in the setup of the display.
Tropica had as its main November themes:
- Ferns and Fern Allies: An exchange of ideas in words and pictures of favorite ferns, in gardens or indoors.
- Linospadix palms. Of the five Australian species, at least four are growing in Sydney: Linospadix monostachya (Walking Stick Palm) and its relatives L. minor, L. microcaryum and L. palmeriana. They are suitable for Sydney gardens but do present a few difficulties.
Membership in the Tropical Garden Society of Sydney (Incorporating the Palm and Cycad Society) -A$20.00 per year (or A$25 for family membership).
Included with memberships is the bi-monthly color magazine Tropica, which averages some 20 pages of articles and color photographs. If you wish to have a membership form or additional Society information, see http://au.geocities.com/sydneytropical/index.htm or e-mail Ian Edwards or contact Paul Anderson (Secretary), Tropical Garden Society of Sydney, P. O. Box 2, Empire Bay, NSW 2257. Ph. (02) 4369-1422 after hours.
Palm & Cycad Society of Western Australia News
At the September meeting, Eric McCrum OAM gave a brilliant talk – sharing his vast knowledge and experience of the Birds of the Perth area. Eric began with a quick example of the strength to weight ratio of a bird’s wings by supporting a 6 inch potted palm on the opened wing of a Australian Bustard (road kill.) Eric continued by explaining the differences in the feet of wading birds and ducks, and their uses. Returning to palms, members were asked to bring along their favorite Caryota species (or a sample leaf) for a general discussion led by Norm Patterson.
The October 24th meeting was about Plant Identification. Members with a palm or cycad that they could not identify (or remember the name of) were given a chance to have their plants identified.
The next general meeting of PACSOWA was scheduled for November 27th at the Rotary Hall. The Christmas Party for 2007 will be held on December 9th at the home of Norm and Gwen Patterson from 4.00 – 9.00 pm.
The owners of Boogaard’s Nursery, Henry and Adrian, invited the Palm & Cycad Society to join with the Fern Society in a visit to their fantastic wholesale nursery on November 11th in Wanneroo. The nursery is located at 232 Mary Street, Wanneroo. The nursery is a massive complex with tens of thousands of ferns, palms and other plants grown under several hectares of shade cloth. Henry spoke about the latest stock arrivals and other plants of interest, and kindly invited all to share a hosted barbecue lunch.
The major Cannington Display was held on November 24th and 25th at the Cannington Exhibition Centre. This is PACSOWA’s major annual fund-raising event and is co-sponsored by the Western Australia Palm and Cycad Society & the Fern Society.
For more information on The Palm & Cycad Society of Western Australia (PACSOWA), see www.wawebsite.com.au/palmswest or e-mail to Editor Gary Pike or President Ralph Coppola
|
