Recent Events

Tom North is Curator of the National Seed Bank. He will talk about trips to Kakadu at various times of the year in order to capture as much as possible the seasonal variance in fruiting and masting events for target species. 

The Australian National Botanic Gardens provide a fantastic habitat for many of Canberra’s birds, with water and nectar in abundance.

It is marvellous to be in the Gardens early in the morning before they are open to the general public.

There will be another opportunity for interested Friends to do (or observe) some charring for the Paperbark Treehouse. Charring, called Shou Sugi Ban in Japanese, is a traditional technique for preserving timber. It is being used to finish and preserve the beams and cladding of the new Treeehouse.

Any would-be charrers (or observers) are asked to turn up at the site via the eastern boundary road and not through the construction site itself. The immediate Treehouse construction site will be out-of-bounds, and charring undertaken on the lawn as previously. The dress rules will apply in terms of old robust clothing and there should be a couple of pairs of long gloves on hand, which were used on the inaugural charring day. Two blow torches will be available, and the training and charring may need to be rostered to avoid people standing around, depending on the numbers.

Catriona, a curator at National Museum of Australia, will explore the life and art of Fanny de Mole, one of a select group of colonial women botanical illustrators, in de Mole’s “Wild Flowers of South Australia” (1861).