Latest News from the Friends
Welcome to the March Newsletter with all the latest from the Friends of Kings Park.
March is filled with plant sales, Workshops and Carnivorous plants! We still need more volunteers for our plant sale, so please take the time to sign up. Read on for all the details:
Sunday Bushland Carers
Please note that your schedule has changed. The session on Sunday 21st April has been moved one week earlier, to avoid Easter Sunday. So there will now be a session on Sunday 14th April instead.
March Plant Sale
Thank you to everyone who has signed up to help with the Plant Sale on:
Saturday 17th March 2019 9am – 12pm
It takes a team effort to run these events – we couldn’t do it without you! We would love some more volunteers for all time slots and jobs. If you’ve never volunteered before, this is a great opportunity to see how the plant sales run “behind the scenes”!
Plant Sale List Hot off the Press!
Our Plant Sale List for March has just been released.
There are over 5,300 plants for sale, with 7 new species, 20 species of grafted plants, over 36 species of ground cover, a dozen Boab trees, beautiful Verticordias and the new Scaevola spinescens (Currant Bush) – potential bush medicine, known as an aphrodisiac!
Visit our website to download the list and plan your day.
Grafting Workshop
Limited places available for our grafting workshop, being held on:
Sunday 24th March
9am – 11am
Nursery
This is a free workshop for members, please get in quick to reserve your place!
Carnivorous Plants Talk
Join us for a fascinating talk on Carnivorous Plants, from James Fielder on:
Thursday 28th March 2019
Doors open 5:30pm for 6pm start
Green Room
Tickets are available through Trybooking – $5 members, $10 non-members
James Fielder has been passionate about carnivorous plants since a very young age. As a young boy living in Albany to parents who managed a motel, James met a coach driver with an Albany pitcher plant in a pot sitting on the dashboard and James was hooked.
His first job at age 12 was at Packers Nursery in Beckenham, where he tendered the Carnivorous plants, or CP’s as they are affectionately known. At Age 16 his prized Nepenthes was borrowed by Kingsley Dixon to be tissue cultured! While on holiday, James will take opportunities to see CP’s in the wild both here in Australia and overseas in Asia and Europe.
James has a unique back garden where his CP’s thrive and he is a wealth of knowledge.
Save the Date
Our Friends of Kings Park calendar is filling up with events for the year, so mark your diaries for:
- 11 April 2019, 5:30pm for a 6pm start
Seedling recruitment success linked to season of fire in a Mediterranean-climate woodland: Russell Miller
$5 members, $10 non-members - 20 May 2019, 10am
Endangered orchid species Caladenia busselliana and Thelymitra variegate: Belinda Davies
Free Members only
Volunteer Scholarships
Are you a volunteer in Kings Park, and looking to develop your skills? The Friends of Kings Park offers two scholarships each year for volunteers to travel, attend conferences, or undertake any professional development that will enhance their ability to better understand and promote Kings Park.
Applications for the 2019 round are open now, and close on June 7, so please download your application form here:
http://www.friendsofkingspark.com.au/notices/volunteer-scholarships/
The Tom Alford scholarship ($4000) is open to members of the Friends of Kings Park who are volunteers in Kings Park. The Mary-Rose Paterson scholarship ($2000) is open to any volunteers in Kings Park.
ClimateWatch
On Wednesday 13 February nine of us beat the parking issues and managed to find each other for our first group walk along the Bushland Nature Trail. This walk was a follow up on our introduction walk held on 14 November 2018. The objective was to get the new and experienced volunteers together to discuss the phenophase of each of the monitored plants to enable consistent reporting.
The weather had cooled down and we had a pleasant walk with a lot of discussion about each of the monitored plants and we also introduced 3 new people to the trail. Although the Bushland is getting dry there is still a lot happening with the plants. The final inflorescence was observed on the Slender Banksia which we are monitoring and after some searching the first flowers were spotted high up in the Marri. Binoculars will certainly be an advantage for observing these bigger trees.
If you would like more information or to participate in future introductory walks please contact us at [email protected]. Apart from the Bushland Nature Trail there is a Climate Watch Trail described on the ClimateWatch website www.climatewatch.org.au and monitored through the ClimateWatch App which is free to download on to your mobile phone. We are planning a walk so please contact us if you are interested.
Photos: Paul Bebbington
Volunteer Opportunities
Kings Park Education Volunteer Position – School Term
The Kings Park Education team are looking for Education Volunteers for the new school year. Kings Park Education offer a range of different educational programs for children ranging in ages from Early Learning through to Year Twelve. Programs are linked to the Western Australian School Curriculum and cover topics such as Science, Conservation and Nyoongar Culture. The programs are run during school term time. The role of the Education Volunteer is to assist our teaching staff with incoming schools visiting Kings Park. It is suitable for people who are fit and healthy, willing to get hands-on and have the ability and interest in engaging school-age children with their natural environment.
Volunteer days available are Tuesday to Friday, 9:00am to 2:00pm. Most Education Volunteers will volunteer one day a week or fortnight during term time. For this role you will need a Working With Children Check. (If you don’t have one, the Volunteer Coordinator can give you the relevant paperwork) and be a Friends of Kings Park member.
The first step is to contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Larr Rose to discuss your availability. Larr will then organise a date for you to come in and look at the program by shadowing an experienced Kings Park Education Volunteer. Following this an induction will be organised. All interested applicants to apply via email: [email protected] with your name and brief description of your availability.
David Yates, Kings Park Education Volunteer (far left) with some of our Education Team and presenter John Walley at our popular Djilba Festival
David Yates, Kings Park Education Volunteer (far left) with some of our Education Team and presenter John Walley at our popular Djilba Festival
Kings Park Vehicle Occupancy Surveys – More Volunteers Needed!
Over the last few months, several Friends of Kings Park volunteers have been assisting the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority (BGPA) by undertaking vehicle occupancy surveys at vehicle entry points to Kings Park and Botanic Garden. The results of these surveys will allow BGPA to more accurately determine visitor numbers to the Park, an important component of BGPA’s annual reporting requirements.
We are now over half way through the required surveys and the current volunteers are keen to meet more people and see the survey through to its end. Although not your usual volunteering gig, the Friends involved have found it a very pleasant way to spend a few hours in Kings Park chatting to new friends while collecting data. All you need to do is sit back, relax and count!
If you are keen to do some short-term volunteering and have some flexibility in when you volunteer, this is the role for you.
Please email the Volunteer Coordinator with your name and best contact number to register your interest.
Larr Rose email: [email protected]
Last chance to pick up our 2019 Calendar – on sale at Aspects for only $10, or download the form below and order through the office.
Stocks are very limited, so if you’ve yet to grab a copy, don’t delay.
Name Badges
Volunteers,
Do you have a name badge yet? If you would like one of the well-known “circle” badges, please fill in the attached form and return it to the Friends office before Tuesday 2 April 2019. We are asking that volunteers contribute $5 towards the badge, and the Friends will pay the remainder.
It’s not compulsory to buy a name badge, but we’ve heard it helps volunteers get to know each other. If you would like us to print you a plain plastic “convention” style badge we can do that too (no charge).
Fill in the form to buy a circle badge, or just send us an email to get a plain one – [email protected]
As with the shirts, we will place an order in bulk and email you when your badge has arrived.
Autumn People & Plants Magazine
Please note the next edition of People & Plants has been delayed. You will be receiving the Autumn edition at the end of March.
Help Wanted
The Communications Team are looking for new members! We’re the “fun team” of the Friends, organising events and dreaming up new ideas to keep the members entertained throughout the year.
If you fancy spending a couple of hours a month flexing your creative muscles with our band of derring doers, drop us a line at [email protected] We’d be delighted to hear from you
Bushland Carers
March Dates: check the Bushland Carers 2019 Volunteer Program Calendar, under the Volunteering page on our website
What’s on in March
VMG Dig it with Coffee: Native Gardens Advice
Wednesday 6 March
Between 10 and 11.30 am at Zamia Café
Bookings essential: call the Kings Park Master Gardeners on 9480 3672, email [email protected] or visit Kings Park Events Calendar: Dig it with Coffee
