Latest News from the Friends

4 March, 2020
Welcome to the March Newsletter with all the latest from the Friends of Kings Park.

Find out about news and upcoming events at the Friends of Kings Park.

Read on for news about Carnivorous Plants, the March Plant Sale, volunteer opportunities, free WASO tickets and more!

In this issue

March Plant Sale

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to help with the March Plant Sale!

Sunday 15th March 2019 9am – 12:30pm

Rosters will be sent out at the end of this week via email. It’s not too late to sign up, so if you can help out, please fill in the online form by clicking below to let us know your availability and preferred tasks.

Photo: Digby Growns

Sign up to help with the March Plant Sale here

Carnivorous Plants

Join James Fielder and Laura Skates for a talk on Carnivorous Plants.

“The wonders of Australia’s carnivorous plants”, with Laura Skates sharing her PhD research on the nutrition and ecology of native Byblis and Drosera species, and James Fielder sharing 30 years of experience and tips on how to grow these amazing plants. Stick around to see some real life examples from James’ carnivorous plant collection!

Thursday 26 March 2020
Doors open 5:30pm for a 6pm start
Tickets – $5 members / $10 non-member
Green Room, Education

Purchase your tickets here

Volunteer Opportunities

Garden Carers
Positions are available for the Thursday Garden Carer group, which meets each week at 8:00 am on Thursday. For this group, you must be a Friends of Kings Park member.

If the GARDEN CARERS is of interest to you, the first step is to email the Volunteer Coordinator via email: [email protected] with your name and a brief description of your interest in the GARDEN CARERS for the Thursday group.

Then the Volunteer Coordinator will send you further information. There will be placement start dates offered soon to suitable applicants.

Wanju Marr Carers
Positions are available for the Wanju Marr Carers on Thursday morning sessions. For this group, you must be a Friends of Kings Park member.

If the WANJU MARR CARERS is of interest to you and you have office or administration experience, the first step is to email the Volunteer Coordinator via email: [email protected] with your name and a brief description of your interest in the WANJU MARR CARERS group.

Then the Volunteer Coordinator will send you further information. There will be placement start dates offered soon to suitable applicants.

Education
The Kings Park Education team are looking for Education Volunteers. 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.

Volunteer name badges

Are you a regular volunteer? Did you miss out on a name badge when you started? Have you lost your name badge and need a new one?
If yes, please let us know by emailing [email protected]
If you need a shirt, please stay tuned as we are working on this and will likely have an order form in the next newsletter.

WASO Ticket Giveaway

The Friends of Kings Park has 10 double passes to the WASO concert Dances with Daphins concert to give away. It shows at 7.30 pm on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 March at the Perth Concert Hall.

To go in the draw, email with an answer to this question before 5pm Monday 9 March 2020:

What is the date of the first Friends of Kings Park plant sale for 2020?

Please advise which night you would prefer, otherwise, you will be allocated one. Winners will be picked randomly and notified by email. Ticket collection will be at the Concert Hall guest desk from 6pm on the night. You need to have an up to date membership of the Friends of Kings Park to enter.

Find out more about the concert here

Book of the Month

In an Australian Light – Jo Turner

Australia is drenched in a light that is different from anywhere else in the world. A light so distinctive, we know it can only be of one place.

Imagined as a celebration of the particular beauty of Australian light, this generous publication roams the country, from rugged coastline to arid outback, to reveal how light shapes our wide, brown land. Wind-etched rocks, patterns in sand. Teal oceans. Surfers, slick in their wetsuits against the morning sun. A beach filled with people. A beach with no people. Rockpools. High-rise buildings against sand and sea. Golden sunsets over city skylines. Rays reaching through forest branches to frosted ground. Paddocks muted by mist, trees laden with luminous snow. The variation in the fall of light on our landscape seems limitless.

With an introduction by a galactic astrophysicist, ‘In an Australian Light’ reminds us of the myriad ways we experience light in this vast and diverse land.
About the Author:
Jo Turner was born with a passion for books and has had the great fortune to build a career doing what she loves; crafting knowledge and ideas into beautiful, accessible books for audiences around the world.

Find the book online at Aspects

Climate Watch

The natural bush is still waiting for rain but the other areas of the park are green with lots of flowers. If you are interested in observing the flora and fauna you can download the App for free and start using it or join us on a walk.  We had a successful walk along the Fraser Ave trail last week and enjoyed ourselves and added many more observations to the ClimateWatch App

ClimateWatch Group Walk 18 March 2020

When will the Gymea Lily flower? 
On 19 February the spear was about 6m. long as per the picture.
Come and join us for our March walk through the Park and we will see if the flower has opened and have coffee afterwards at Wanju Marr.
Trail:  Kings Park Forrest Drive
Date:  Wednesday 18 March @ 08:00 (~1.5 hrs then coffee or tea in Wanju Marr)
Meeting Point: Wanju Marr off Lovekin Drive

Download the free ClimateWatch App before you come on the walk as we will be using it along the walk.
We look forward to seeing you there.

Reserve your place on the Climate Watch Group Walk

Wild Lives Breakfast

The Native Animal Rehabilitation Centre are holding a breakfast on Tuesday 7th April with Sabrina Hahn in Zamia Cafe discussing how to create a wildlife-friendly garden in today’s climate.
Download the flyer for more information here, or visit their website at www.nativearc.org.au

2020 AAFBG Biennial Conference

The Australian Association of Friends of Botanic Gardens Inc has kindly offered the Friends of Kings Park one complimentary registration to their upcoming conference in Brisbane. The offer is for one standard registration (value $390) and does not include extras such as tours, transport or accommodation. The conference will be held on 22-24 May 2020.

The offer is made possible by a donation from an AAFBG committee member, and the Friends was chosen as a recipient on the basis of our distance from the conference.

If you would like to attend the conference on behalf of the Friends, please email [email protected]wa.gov.au with a short paragraph outlining your interest by 9 am Tuesday 10th March 2020. We will consider the responses in terms of benefit to our members.

You must have an up to date membership to the Friends of Kings Park to apply.

More information about the conference is here: https://friendsbotanicgardens.org/conferences/upcoming-conferences

Please note

There will be no Wanju Marr carers on-site for these dates in March:
Thursday 12 March, Wednesday 25 March, Thursday 26 March

What’s on in March & April

VMG Dig it with Coffee: Native Gardens Advice
Wednesday 1 April
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

Bushland Carers
Check out the Bushland Carers 2019 Volunteer Program Calendar, under the Volunteering page on our website