The Morelander Edition 7 2021-22

Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Moreland

EDITION 7|14 SEPTEMBER 2021

THE MORELANDER

THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS - A LOCAL TREASURE

Nada Stojkovic tells us about the history, the purpose and the attractions of this cherished Melbourne asset

Pages 3 and 4

Award of Excellence for Club Bulletin 2018-2019

Moreland Rotary acknowledges the Wurundjeri people of the eastern Kulin Nations on whose unceded lands we conduct our business. Moreland Rotary respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past, present and emerging. Moreland Rotary also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.

Cover photo: Punting on the lake at the Royal Botanic Gardens (David Redfearn)

THE MORELANDER

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The Royal Botanic Gardens - a local treasure

Enjoying the gardens

The Royal Botanic Gardens are one of Melbourne’s treasures and date back to the early days of European settlement being established in 1846. They are one of a series of major parks and gardens such as Royal Park and the Fitzroy Gardens established close to central Melbourne under Governor Charles Latrobe and were seen as a way of improving people and their lives. They were designed to feature exotic plants.

The British came to Melbourne in 1835 but prior to that the Boon Wurrung people lived near the present gardens on the banks of the Yarra as there was an abundance of food and water. There are indigenous guides at the gardens who talk on the deep history of that area and the relationship of the original inhabitants to country.

The botanic gardens in Melbourne were originally 5 acres in area but that has grown to the current 100 acres. It is not dead flat but has an undulating terrain providing an opportunity for a variety of microclimates to accommodate plants ranging from cool climate species from the northern hemisphere to tropical species. Entry is free and is guaranteed by legislation unlike such gardens in other parts of the world.

Fern Gully

Two highly influential people feature in the gardens’ history these being Ferdinand Von Mueller and William Guilfoyle.

Von Mueller was a German chemist and botanist who came to Victoria in the 1840s. He strongly emphasised the scientific side of the project and was renowned for travelling across the country on horseback to collect plants.

He was appointed as State Botanist and set up the herbarium which was originally near the Shrine but is now on the grounds of the botanic gardens. He set up experiments and laid out the park.

He had a very scientific and ordered approach and used the gardens to experiment with new plants to help the new colony with emerging industries as cropping and timber. He planted trees in rows and certainly didn’t under plant.

The 1850s saw the gold rush and a get rich quick attitude in Victoria so many wished to show off their success. These people wanted places to promenade and the gardens as they were did not fit this purpose so they campaigned to remove Von Mueller with eventual success. He did stay on as State Botanist but he never set foot in the gardens again after his removal.

His successor, William Guilfoyle, came from a family of plant nursery specialists and he had a penchant for English plants and park design which had two key strands, gardenesque with a desire for exotic planting and picturesque with English style sweeping lawns and woodlands with temples on the hills like the great homes of England.

Nada Stojkovic, who addressed our club, is one of 70 volunteers at the gardens which now also have an Australian garden at Cranbourne in Melbourne’s south east. Nada does guided tours in the gardens which are much more than an ordinary park telling stories and their history. She gave our club a fascinating outline of the history, the purpose and the highlights of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Nada was a community worker who studied horticulture later in life.

We plan to make a club visit to the gardens soon as part of our club and Rotary's commitment to the environment, our new area of focus and Nada's talk gave us some wonderful insights into the vital role that the botanic gardens play in promoting and preserving our natural heritage.

Red Sand Garden - Cranbourne

THE MORELANDER

TEXT: NADA STOJKOVIC AND DAVID REDFEARN | IMAGES: DAVID REDFEARN AND ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS (LOGO)

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The Royal Botanic Gardens - a local treasure

The gardens are much more than a park though. They engage with science and teaching and collaborate with other gardens around the world. There are one and a half million dried specimens in the herbarium which are used for research, there are exchanges of plants and they are also used at universities.

A lot happens behind the scenes at the botanic gardens and Nada likened them to a swan, splendid on the surface but furiously paddling away underneath

Climate change and looking at how we adapt is now central to the gardens purpose. There are many northern hemisphere trees lining our city avenues and these are nearing the end of their lives so they will need to be replanted maintaining streetscapes while using species more suited to drier and warmer climates.

The gardens also promote the importance of plants to the community and activities and tours are done to this end. For example, the Children’s Garden is an adventure play area with many natural features and it helps our next generation learn the value of plants.

It is a great place for people to relax and has some wonderful features such Fern Gully which replicates mountain habitat in the Dandenongs and the Arid Garden which features cacti from a family collection with some specimens being 100 years old. The gardens are undoubtedly a great asset to us living here in Melbourne. The Herb Garden and the Australian Forest walk are other highlights.

Arid Garden

Guilfoyle’s Volcano is on a rise near Anderson Street. William Guilfoyle, who was there from the 1870s to 1902, was inspired by an active volcano he saw on a Pacific voyage and wanted to replicate it at the gardens in the locality of a water storage tank. He sketched concepts of an artificial volcano with red flowering pants and water to resemble flowing lava. His vision was eventually realised many years later with a mound being constructed beneath the tank and covered in cactus succulents.

The volcano is part of a water recycling system with run off water being captured from Anderson Street and Domain Road and watering done by gravity feeding. It is a landscape with low water plants Events held at the gardens include Wind in the Willows, a Midsummer Night’s Dream, an outdoor cinema and many others.

For more information, go to: https://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/

Walks for groups and individuals are held at the RBG from 10.30 am on weekdays and online books are available.

An hour and a half hour walk highlights the lake, Fern Gully, Guilfoyle’s Volcano and the Arid Garden. Another good walk goes from the tea rooms up to the Temple of the Winds with its view of the sports precinct, across the Yarra and then down to the grey garden featuring plants for extreme conditions which display lush foliage despite their harsh environment. These plants have grey foliage which reflects light thereby conserving moisture helping them to adapt and even thrive.

A two hour walk is quite sufficient to see most of the gardens and it makes for a pleasant outing in our home city. The Indigenous walks are also highly recommended.

Grass Trees - Cranbourne

THE MORELANDER

TEXT: NADA STOJKOVIC AND DAVID REDFEARN | IMAGES: DAVID REDFEARN AND ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS (LOGO)

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About Rotary District Governor's Newsletter

"Our District, Our Voice" is the monthly newsletter of District Governor Anne Reid in 2021-22.

There is a lot of information about the many Rotary projects and events across our District. Simply click here to read the latest edition Members of Rotary are part of a diverse group of community and professional leaders working to address community and international service needs and to promote peace and understanding throughout the world.

Rotary districts are a way of grouping a number of clubs in a particular geographic area. The area covered quite often crosses state and even international boundaries.

Rotary District 9790 encompasses the northern Rotary clubs receive a charter suburbs of Melbourne and from the worldwide organisation - stretches north and north east of Rotary International.

Victoria to the Murray River and up into parts of NSW. A Rotarian belongs to a particular Rotary Club often near his/her For more information about home or work or sometimes Rotary District 9790, click here because of the club meeting time.

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Rotary Leadership 2021-22 Rotary International: President: Shekha Mehta(Susanne) , Rotary Club of District Governor: Anne Reid , Rotary Club of Alexandra Assistant Governor Group 2: Emma Davis, Rotary Club of Moreland Rotary Club of Moreland President: Emma Davis

Club Service Roles 2021-22

President President Elect Secretary Treasurer Community Service Vocational Services Membership, International Service and Assistant Bulletin Editor Rotary Foundation Youth and Assistant Secretary Club Administration and Governance Environment and Bulletin Editor Australian Rotary Health Public Relations Club History Valued members Honorary Members

Emma Davis TBA Rosemary Freeman John Hoffmann Rosemary Freeman Brian Bennett Trevor Moyle Rosemary Freeman Silvana De Pretto Nino Galgano and Lee Garwood David Redfearn OAM Rosemary Freeman Russell Stuckey and Brian Bennett Nino Galgano Elly Gardner, Jo Connellan The Hon. Kelvin Thomson, Helen Bailey, John Awler, Richard McCarthy

District 9790 /Multi District Roles 2021-22

Assistant Governor, Group 2 and Director, 2023 Convention Host Organising Committee District Community Service Chair and Australian Rotary Health District Legal Officer District Bulletin Editor and Peter Toomey Community Police Award Shine On Awards

Emma Davis Rosemary Freeman Nino Galgano David Redfearn OAM Brian Bennett

WHEN AND WHERE WE MEET:

Moreland Rotary Club meets most Wednesdays at 7.30 for a 7.40 am start.

We meet at the Sorrento Bar, 801 Sydney Road, Brunswick, 3056 HOW TO GET A COPY OF THE MORELANDER:

If you would like to receive our bulletin via email each week, email our editor at:

dredfearn@vtown.com.au WHERE TO SEND FORMAL CORRESPONDENCE:

Attention: The Secretary, Moreland Rotary Club, PO Box 219, Coburg, Victoria, 3058

Chartered 14 August 1996 - Sponsor Club Coburg Rotary Club | Incorporated 13 August 2019 Designed using Canva - www.canva.com

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Images by David Redfearn and logos from rotary.org unless

otherwise specified.

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Upcoming events and meetings A standing invitation exists for all readers of The Morelander to attend

Moreland Rotary Club meetings and some of our other events. Please let us

know if you intend to join us by ringing David Redfearn on 0448 852 747 or

emailing on dredfearn@vtown.com.au (click on email address).

Upcoming speakers/events

22 September: Joint meeting with Ivanhoe on Australian Rotary Health (Zoom) 29 September: District Governor's visit (Zoom) 6 October: TBA (Zoom) 10 October: Lift the Lid Walk (see page 5) for details 13 October: Monthly Board Meeting (Zoom) Our Guest Speakers

Moreland Rotary Club invites speakers to our club both from our local community and further afield. They come from a wide range of backgrounds and are invited because they hopefully inform and stimulate our members and guests. We feel that this is of value in fostering a deeper understanding of our diverse community and even providing guidance as to the types of activites and projects our club may engage in. However the opinions expressed by our speakers do not necessarily reflect any official viewpoint of Moreland Rotary nor those of individual club members. Irrespective of this we always offer a warm Rotary welcome to all of our speakers.

click here @RotaryMoreland

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During the pandemic we sometimes only meet via Zoom on Wednesday mornings from 7.30-8.30 am but, when we can, we meet in person at our usual venue (listed on page 6). You should contact us beforehand in case restrictions are in force but you can always join us on Zoom at any time and the link is below.

We always aim to have great guest speakers whether meeting in person or virtually!

Why not join us one morning? Simply ring David on 0448 852 747 the day before to RSVP or go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3068589175 just before the meeting to join in.