About the Australian Plants Society SA Region

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About The Australian Plants Society - South Australia

People become members of organisations such as ours for a wide variety of reasons, some may wish to understand more about Australian native plants, some may wish to collect or grow plants for their gardens, others may want to do something about the environment, like revegetation work, whatever the reason, we can assist. We are a Society with a large cross-section of people from all walks of life. This is what makes The Australian Plants Society unique. There is always someone who can help.

Most people know that Australian native plants consist of more than just gum trees and wattles, but very few realise that there are literally hundreds of species with many variations. In a majority of cases, many of these plants can be grown in your garden so by having involvement with The Australian Plants Society, people gain invaluable knowledge and become an authority themselves.

One of the most important things that happens to a The Australian Plants Society member, is that, when travelling, instead of seeing nothing along the roadways, a whole new world of plant species and their environment opens up, and life takes on a completely new meaning.

Some example Activities:

General Meetings
Throughout the year, The Australian Plants Society hold General Meetings at Arthur Street in Unley, where we have some very informative speakers that relate to Australian flora in some way. Recently it has been decided to hold special plant sales at two of these meetings where members can purchase rare or unusual plants. At one of the meetings each year, we hold a propagation evening, where we invite anybody to come and learn the skills required to grow Australian plants, because some are quite difficult.

Publications
Being a The Australian Plants Society member enables a person to take advantage of the many facilities that are available, like buying Australian plant publications at an attractive price.

Seeds.
A wide variety of Australian plant seeds from a well stocked seed bank is freely available.

Library.
Members can borrow from a comprehensive library of Australian plant books.

Propagation Aids.
Some members grow Australian plants, so we are able to supply propagation aids for them to purchase at a very competitive price.

Plant Sales.
As a grower, the APS member is able to sell those plants to the public, at our exclusive and very popular Plant Sales that are held twice a year at the Wayville Show grounds. This is a wonderful opportunity to interact with the public, and make some money as well.

Study Groups.
There are many study groups within the Society, where members are able to specifically learn about a particular genus, at the moment there are about thirty groups.

Conservation.
This is possibly the most important part of The Australian Plants Society. Where we are actively involved in several conservation initiatives, and because of them, we as an organisation are gaining tremendous recognition from others. We have one project where we are managing a site that has the only remaining significant population of a rare and endangered plant. At another site, we are returning some coastal habitat to what it was a hundred years ago, and that includes the mangrove forests. We are the only organisation to tackle the massive weed infestation at a site near Cape Jervis, and restore that area to its original condition. All these projects include weed eradication, seed collection, direct seeding, tubestock growing, revegetation work, survey work and much, much more. For those that are involved, it can be extremely rewarding, because the environment is being protected in so many ways.

Excursions.
If all that is not enough, we have many excursions throughout the year to a variety of places of interest, and these can take the form of weekend camps, to daily trips, and dusk discovery walks to various places, so that those persons who are not able to get away to some of our excursions and working weekends, are still given the opportunity to see Australian flora first hand by experienced The Australian Plants Society members.

This overview is just that, it gives an idea of the activities an d services that The Australian Plants Society provide. The Australian Plants Society, South Australia, has fifteen country groups which take in most of South Australia, and proudly Alice Springs as well. The Australian Plants Society has been in existence for over forty years, and is Australia wide with over ten thousand members, and every one has a common purpose, and that is:

To encourage the cultivation and study of Australian plants.
To promote the establishment of gardens in all types of soil and climates for the preservation of Australian flora.
To pass on our knowledge as widely as possible.
To support or initiate efforts to protect Australian plants and their habitats.

Finally, members the Society gives the weight that is required to sway our political leaders into being more responsible toward this wonderful world that we live in.

JEFF REID. Former president of The Australian Plants Society (S.A. Region)

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Page Content: Jeff Reid
Last Updated: 21/10/04