NOW AVAILABLE:
“Plants of Melbourne’s Western Plains: A Gardener’s Guide to the Original Flora, 2nd Edition”
“The subordinate title of this book, A gardener’s guide to the original flora delightfully understates the scope of this excellent publication … Not only will the gardener be inspired by the choice of plants to grow and the conditions to which they are best suited, but enthusiasts from across the natural history spectrum will learn about the flora and some of the fauna of this area. … It is at once an identification tool for both flora and its associated fauna, and a revelation for the budding landscaper through images of plants in natural habitat and in replaced naturalistic garden settings.”
Neville Walsh, Senior Conservation Botanist, Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne
“Congratulations are certainly due to the APS Keilor Plains Group for producing such a wonderful and special book … that not only deals with the plants of Melbourne’s Western Plains but also with the relevance and importance of attracting local wildlife to gardens.”
Rodger Elliot AM, leading horticulturalist & international authority on Australian plants
223 pages. Fully illustrated in colour with 500+ photographs, maps and diagrams. Botanical and common names identify most of the local indigenous plants that are available in nurseries, together with each plant’s favoured growing conditions, mature size, flowering times, whether they are bird and/or butterfly attracting, and more.
Available from local nurseries (especially local indigenous nurseries) and local bookshops.
If it isn’t in your local outlet, ask them why, and ask them to get it in for you.
For enquiries or orders, please contact: kpbook@apskeilorplains.org.au
The grasslands of Victoria’s Western Plains and similar plant communities in the Northern Plains contain the highest proportion of threatened plant species in the state. Grasslands now cover less than 1% of their former extent on the Keilor-Werribee Plains and less than 1% in Victoria.
This book is a valuable guide for people wishing to grow western plains plants in domestic gardens, parks and revegetation projects as well as everyone who wants to learn more about the rich diversity of flora to be found in remaining plains landscapes in Melbourne’s west and throughout Victoria.
A book for gardeners, environmentalists, local communities — anyone who cares about protecting and enhancing our natural heritage.
The contents include:
- Foreword by Neville Walsh, Senior Conservation Botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.
- Sections on the geology, soils, rainfall, landforms and history of the Western Plains of Melbourne including the use of the plants by the area’s indigenous inhabitants.
- Covers a range of gardening-related topics such as attracting butterflies and native birds, creating a frog-friendly garden, growing plants in containers, growing ferns, and native lawns.
- Descriptions, cultural notes and colour photos of over 200 plants grouped into logical groupings: trees and tall shrubs, aquatic plants, grasses, low shrubs, climbers and wildflowers.
- A graphic guide to flowering months of each plant described plus symbols indicating bird-attracting and butterfly-attracting plants.
- Appendices include living models for revegetation, Ecological Vegetation Classes, indigenous plant suppliers, legislation permits, useful plant lists, further reading, a contact list and a glossary.
- Maps include Melbourne’s Western Plains, Victorian Volcanic Plains, geology, rainfall and selected Ecological Vegetation Classes found across Melbourne’s Western Plains.