We have been working hard to revitalize the Bush Garden Interpretive Trail located in Mundingburra, upstream from Aplins Weir. It’s a great place for a shady nature walk where you can use your phone to scan the new QR codes and learn more about our native plants. Download a flyer with location map or visit […]
· Guest post by Julia Hazel · Short answer: hard to predict. Long answer: please read on… Expect natural variation Native plants at CDTLI’s nursery are grown from locally-collected seed to maintain the natural characteristics of each species, including natural variability between individual plants. This variation between individuals is essential for native species to survive […]
· Guest post by Dave Pratchett · Goondaloo Creek Landcare site became the focus of my Landcare volunteering in 2019, soon after we moved to Townsville. Assisting with weed control and watering in the newly planted section opposite Tech NQ, I could look upstream to an area rejuvenated through years of sustained effort. But downstream […]
· Guest post by Malcolm Tattersall · Many of us know that we should grow a particular vine to attract Birdwing butterflies to our gardens but just what the vine is called, and which butterflies rely on it, are recurring questions. Very briefly, the caterpillars of one group of Swallowtail butterflies feed exclusively on one […]
· Guest post by Adam Goulding · Before COVID-19 caused temporary closure of CDTLI’s Bush Garden Nursery, our Saturday sessions were often busy and tended to attract passing walkers, cyclists and runners. We even had a couple come in half way through our volunteers’ smoko, only to be rather disappointed that we were not a […]
· Guest post by Tim Doolan · Tipping my hat to the present COVID-19 restrictions (not that my hat gets much wear now) I hope everyone is enjoying their meditation on solitude. What better time to discover some new resources for native plant identification! Apart from asking someone who knows better, or going straight to […]
· Guest post by Malcolm Tattersall · This all began with a somewhat puzzling comment in the gardening column of our local newspaper, “The Tinaroo Bottlebrush (Melaleuca recurva but still sold as Callistemon recurvis) is…” “Isn’t a Melaleuca a paperbark?” I wondered. A bit of digging (no, not in the garden) showed me that what […]
· Guest post by Malcolm Tattersall · No, this isn’t a recipe. The Black Bean in my title is a local tree, Castanospermum australe, and you wouldn’t want to cook with its seeds because they are too too big and too toxic. Two of our neighbours in Mundingburra have well-grown specimens and I am simply […]
· Guest post by Christine Dalliston· Local Provenance is the term used to describe native plant populations that naturally occur in a given area. Many native plant species can be found to occur naturally across a broad geographic area or range. For example, Hairpin banksia (Banksia spinulosa) naturally occurs across 3 states, from coastal Victoria […]
Sagittaria/Delta Arrowhead (Sagittaria platyphylla) is a recent arrival to the Ross River, first found here in 2012. It is currently under a containment program in attempt to eradicate it from the river before it spreads throughout the region. Sagittaria is a highly invasive aquatic weed that can choke shallow waterways, including irrigation channels, blocking the […]