ARS Victoria Newsletter – April 2023

• Date: 24th April 2023
• author: Andrew Rouse

EMU VALLEY RHODODENDRON GARDENS - rhododendron cutting trip

On the 8th to 10th of March, ARSV members Rob Hatcher, Ray Weeks, John O’Hara and I, took a trip to Emu Valley Rhododendron Gardens (EVRG), near Burnie in northern Tasmania. The trip was to collect rhododendron cuttings for the collection at the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens (DRBG). With it now very challenging to import plants
into the country, it is all the more important to record what we have in our collections and to safeguard them in cultivation by spreading them around botanic gardens.

Maurie Kupsch, the honorary Curator at EVRG, has over many years, built up an excellent collection of rhododendron species, so the impetus for this trip was to collect and establish at DRBG the rhododendron species currently only held at EVRG. We had a most enjoyable two days at EVRG, and on behalf of the Society, a big thank you to Geoff Wood, Maurie Kupsch and Mary McConnell for supporting our trip, their generosity and hospitality. The trip was a huge success, with cuttings of about 50 rhododendron species collected and now in the Society’s propagating facility at DRBG...

Please download the ARSV newsletter to read about all the projects that are happening at the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens where the ARSV maintains their rhododendron collections.