ARS Victoria Newsletter – October 2024

• Date: 25th November 2024
• author: Andrew Rouse

FORMAL OPENING OF THE AUSTRALIAN CLOUD FOREST COLLECTION

On the 23rd of August, at an event held at the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens, the Australian Cloud Forest Collection was formally opened by Daniella De Martino, the State member for Monbulk. The event was an opportunity to acknowledge the partners, organisations and individuals who had helped make the garden a reality. There were representatives from Parks Victoria, the Australian Rhododendron Society Victoria Branch, Andrea Proctor Landscapes, Warrandale Industries, Cranbourne Botanic Gardens and the Ian Potter Foundation.

Andrea Proctor spoke about the design and how she sought to emulate the rocky outcrops that are a distinctive feature of the tropical Queensland mountaintops from where the plants in the garden were
collected. After formally opening the garden, the ARSV presented Daniella de Martino with a potted specimen of R. viriosum for her own garden.

The Collection is the culmination of 14 years work dating back to about 2010 when ARSV first sought to recollect R. viriosum and R. lochiae from the mountain-tops in North Queensland, which subsequently became a reality with our partnership with the Australian Tropical Herbarium and other organisations through the Tropical Mountain Plan Science Project (or TroMPS for short).

Around 350 plants from about 40 species from the tropical mountain-tops of North Queensland were planted out in May this year. The plants are settling in well, and as we head into warmer weather we’re starting to see lots of new growth...

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