Rosemary opened the March meeting by welcoming life members, members and new members.  New members were asked to tell us a bit about themselves.  This is always a great way to break the ice and get to know a little bit about new members.

After the general business of the club was concluded our members presented their beautiful blooms for our Flora of the Month segment.

• Carol Lea – Ficus coronata, Sand Paper Fig – a locally native tree.
• Steven Wedd – Blue Hippeastrum, Worlseya procera, a rare and expensive bulb. From Brazil where is hangs from remote cliffs near waterfalls
• Beth Noble – Lycoris cvs – a bulbous perennial
• Fay Bogg – a collection of Acalypha – A. wilkesiana with large variegated leaves – green, cream, pink & red, crinkly leaves – lime green leaves, or A. hispida with long red tassel flowers. Can grow to 2m+. Can be pruned.
• Ian Lacey – Hymenocallis (probably H. littoralis) Spider Lily a bulbous perennial. Likes full sun or part shade.
• Margaret Bruce – Beehive Ginger, Zingiber spectabile, a clumping plant.
• Julia Bamberry – Dendrobium magnum, with pendulous fragrant flowers, native to the Philippines. Julia reminded us that when buying orchids find their origins and try toreplicate those conditions.

Margaret Bruce introduced Linda Sparrow President of the Bangalow Koalas Inc (started 2016) and Mark from Friends of the Koalas.

Linda Sparrow has also been awarded Australia Day 2020 and 2022 Byron Shire Environmental Citizen of the Year and finalist for the 2020 and 2022 NSW Environmental Citizen of the Year Award and the Australian Geographic Society Conservationist of the Year Award for 2022.  The group has been awarded the 2019 NSW Landcare Awards – Australian Community Media Landcare Community Group Champion; Australia Day 2020 and 2022 Byron Shire Environmental Project of the Year; Byron Shire Council 2020 Sustainability Award and have been invited to be a mentor in the Green Innovation Awards – Mentoring Program in 2021.

Bangalow Koalas Inc. is a registered environmental organisation with DGR status (deductible gift recipient) and charity/not-for-profit. It became active in May 2016 with the local community realising the importance of our Koala population on the western side of Bangalow.

Tree planting in 2019 across 6 shires and a number of properties, with 240,000 planted to date. The goal is to have planted 500,000 trees by 2025.  The aim being to create a Koala wildlife corridor linking habitat from Byron Bay/Bangalow heading westwards towards Tenterfield and south towards Grafton, allowing koalas to move safely across the local landscape.

The group works with councils and native nurseries, Landcare groups, and other professionals to determine species selection.  All trees are grown from seed and planted out at a random spacing to mimic the natural environment.  They also run children’s workshops.

Mark from Friends of the Koalas displayed a range of native trees and shrubs, e.g., Callistemons, Melaleucas, Casuarinas and Eucalypts etc., which were for sale.

Margaret thanked Linda and Mark and donated $200 to Bangalow Koalas Inc on behalf of the Bangalow Garden Club.

An enjoyable afternoon tea was once again prepared by a group of member volunteers.