Ipswich

Meetings

Native Plants Queensland's Ipswich branch meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month (except January). We meet in the Environment Centre, at Queens Park Café, Merle Finimore Avenues, Queens Park, Ipswich, 4305.

The business meetings start at 6.30 pm until 7.00 pm, followed by a guest speaker. Visitors are welcome!

Following our monthly meeting we have a 50 cent plant raffle (local species sourced and grown plants donated by members).

Our end of year Christmas party is usually held in the Kholo Botanic Garden.

We regularly have propagation sessions, where techniques for grafting and seed raising of native species are demonstrated, and propagation materials are shared.

Contact

President: Eddie O'Callaghan (ipswich@npq.org.au)

Treasurer: Heather Knowles (Ph: 0419 779 530, heatherk020@gmail.com)

Rosewood Peace Park enquiries to Bern Thompson (Ph: 5464 1876, cbthompson@bigpond.com)

Members

Amongst our many knowledgeable members we are privileged to count Heather Knowles and Wendy Clarke-Hackett, both dedicated horticulturalists with their own local native plant nurseries. They and all our members are more than happy to share their knowledge of Australian native plants with you.   

Ipswich Branch members wanting to learn more about our native plants can also borrow resources from our branch library which is available during branch meetings.  

Projects

Native Plants Queensland's Ipswich branch members have played an active role in advising the Ipswich City Council and other community groups on bush regeneration projects. In addition to this, our members are involved in a number of different projects:

Rosewood Peace Park

Long time Ipswich branch member, Arnold Rieck, established the Rosewood Peace Park arboretum over twenty years ago.  A "museum of living trees", it contains a collection of unique Rosewood scrub species, including bush medicine plants. Native Plants Queensland's Ipswich branch member Colin Thompson conducts regular working bees to maintain the park.    

In the News: Passion for Plants Helps Project Flourish 

The Lloyd Bird Library

The late Lloyd Bird OAM, the 'Environmental Champion of the West', was a long time member of the Society for Growing Australian Plants (now known as Native Plants Qld). The Ipswich branch of Native Plants Queensland are the proud custodians of his library of lists of plants discovered in the Ipswich area.  Members of the branch have begun to digitise this resource in order to make it available to all. 

In the News: Tributes Flow for Lloyd Bird 

Book, Poster and Banner: ‘Garden Escapees become Environmental Weeds : the twenty worst garden escapees in the Ipswich region and some suggested native alternatives’  

Extensive research and exhaustive photographic endeavour by industry professionals and Native Plants Queensland project officers finally culminated in a full colour publication by member Bruce Tinworth, which provides alternatives to twenty of the worst garden escapees (environmental weeds of horticultural origin) in the Ipswich region.  Edition 2 is currently in concept phase.

Rosewood Plant Sale 

Native Plants Queensland's Ipswich branch hosts an annual 'Plant and Enviro Day' in Rosewood. Native Plants Queensland growers from all over the south-east corner come with plants to sell and there are displays from a range of local environment groups.  Ipswich branch member Heather Knowles has been instrumental in organising the event which occurs each year in early October.