Autumn Update

AUTUMN UPDATE

From left: Jane Rodgers, Shelley Roden-Smith, Carol Griesser, Pete Thomas, Susan Hutchinson and Narelle Richardson CELEBRATING VOLUNTEERS Gardening Australia presenters Costa Georgiadis and Clarence Slockee recently made special ‘on-screen’ appearances at The Calyx as part of a special ‘thank you’ event for volunteers across the Gardens.

The much-loved presenters took part in a video tracing 40 years of volunteer guiding at the Gardens. While celebrating the contributions of all those who donate their time and energy, the event paid special tribute to long-term volunteers.

Not surprisingly, Foundation & Friends was well represented, with more than 50 members recognised for passing important milestones over the past two years. Among them were Janet Snodgrass (information booth and catering), Ann Rasmussen (information booth, events and catering) and Robin McIntyre (Growing Friends), all of whom have now contributed more than 25 years’ service.

GARDEN ART MONTH This year’s Garden Art Month (April–early May) is set to entice visitors with a selection of outstanding exhibitions, Wednesday art-andsculpture walks and children’s activities.

The marquee event this year is the much-anticipated Artisans in the Gardens (26 March–3 April), which returns after a COVID-induced break in 2021. Showcasing established and emerging Australian artists and craftspeople, the exhibition will incorporate more than 2,000 artworks, including sculpture, ceramics, handblown glass, jewellery, textiles and more (full story page 8).

World-class botanical art will also feature in two major exhibitions: A Flash of Red by artist Jean Dennis and Botanic Endeavour, presented by the Florilegium Society.

Inspired by Dennis’ first sighting of a red flower in an otherwise dry-brown bush in the Northern Territory, A Flash of Red (The Calyx, 25 April–8 May) will offer watercolours of parts of trees and shrubs of the Indigenous Brachychiton genus. The works were painted from living specimens over a 13-year period, with the majority of specimens collected by the artist.

The Florilegium Society is a selffunded, voluntary organisation dedicated to building a collection of contemporary botanical paintings of plants in the Gardens' Living Collection. Its Botanic Endeavour exhibition (Lion Gate Lodge, 7–22 May) presents recent botanical paintings of plants that feature in the Living Collection and are also among the historic specimens collected by Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander.

On sale at the exhibition will be an accompanying, limited edition Botanic Endeavour publication, featuring 48 new paintings.

For more information visit botanicgardens.org.au/gardenartmonth.

Lambertia formosa by Elaine Musgrave from the Botanic Endeavour exhibition

HELP CREATE A HEALING SEA OF HANDS To celebrate the theme of this year’s NAIDOC Week, the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney is partnering with ANTaR, the national organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reconciliation and rights, to create a ‘live’ Sea of Hands exhibition, to which visitors can contribute.

The immersive exhibition is designed to signify unity, aligning it with the “Heal Country” theme of NAIDOC Week 2022, which takes place in early July.

Between 4–10 April, visitors to the Garden are welcome to contribute to the installation by helping plant hands. The aim is for the final design, set to be unveiled on 11 April, to incorporate 10,000 hands in the colours of charred and burnt banksia pods.

Sea of Hands will be curated by New South Wales painter and installation artist Frances Belle Parker, a Yaegl woman based in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. Belle Parker came to prominence in 2000 when she became the youngest winner and first Indigenous recipient of the Blake Prize, which since 1951 has celebrated Australian art that explores spirituality.

The installation will be positioned just inside the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney’s Woolloomooloo Gate. If you would like to help plant hands, visit between 10am–3pm. One of the core pillars of strength that supports all the work of Foundation & Friends is our volunteer program. So much of what we do is powered by more than 330 passionate and dedicated volunteers, and it is incredibly motivating for all of us to work with such a committed group.

Over the past few months, we have seen just what our volunteers can do. We had a superb Transformation exhibition in the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, which received rave reviews and raised important funds. Importantly, it also highlighted the critical issues of waste and recycling in our modern society, including through an excellent segment on ABC TV’s Art Works.

Our Growing Friends worked through a wet and humid summer, continuing to build our sales and a unique range of plants. Over the past year the team has sold over 540 different types of plants, a huge range you will struggle to find anywhere else. Despite lockdowns, plant sales remain a vital source of funds for Foundation & Friends.

Our catering volunteers have helped across a wide range of events, including our successful AGM. Despite the often-challenging COVID rules, the quality has continued to be outstanding. Also supporting so many of our activities is the works crew, playing such a key role in ensuring that we put on high-quality events and activities.

Through rain, hail and shine we have our Information Booth volunteers helping countless visitors enjoy a deeper experience of our beautiful gardens. And across our three Gardens you will find our Helping Hands side by side with our talented horticulturalists.

We are also fortunate to have a large team of office volunteers, supporting processing, front of house, events and so much more. And as our successful New Year’s Eve picnic showed, we have a large group of volunteers ready to put their hands up and help for our many one-off events and activities.

One of the highlights of late last year was the volunteer ‘thank you’ held in conjunction with the Gardens at The Calyx. Not only did we thank our combined volunteer army of well over 600, we also recognised 91 volunteers with service awards that reached up to 25 years. The Gardens would not be the special places they are today without the incredible commitment of our volunteers. Peter Thomas

TOMATO FESTIVAL SYDNEY GOES VIRTUAL This year’s Tomato Festival Sydney (19–20 February) is going virtual, with live sessions conducted by Festival Ambassador Costa Georgiadis, the Gardens’ horticulture staff and members of Foundation & Friends.

For more information on the live sessions visit botanicgardens.org. au/tomatofestival.

The website also offers a variety of additional information, including tomato growing tips, interesting insights into different varieties and recipes from the award-winning Executive Chef of the Longest Tomato Lunch, Luca Ciano. PS - Subscribe to our e-news for updates on volunteer opportunities.