The Arboretum's Harvesting Group and Fig Forest get a mention in today's Canberra Times. Plus there's an great winter-warmer recipe. Thanks to Susan Parsons for allowing us to share it. You can read the article below.

According to The Canberra Times, 4000 new trees are to be planted in Canberra's suburbs as part of the corona virus stimulus plan. You can read the article below. The number of trees planted as part of the government's Autumn tree planting program has more than doubled this year as part of the stimulus, rising from 1500 planted last year to 4000. The trees will be planted across 87 suburbs in Canberra that have been suggested by community members in consultations held last year. The Arboretum is probably not included in these tree plantings, but any additional tree plantings are welcome!

In September 2019, the idea for the Friends to grow Wollemi Pine saplings for sale to raise funds for the Arboretum was first broached by Ange McNeilly to Roger Hnatiuk, who for the past ten years, has been conducting the Wollemi Seed Counting Project at the Arboretum. On the same day, Roger spoke to Scott Saddler, Senior Director of the NAC, who was very supportive of the idea. From there, the project has blossomed into the Friends' most recent exciting project!

An interesting article from The Conversation about trees. Imagine a world without trees, and then try to think about the changes that would need to happen for these trees to evolve from the small primitive plants that came before them.

To try and help keep the Arboretum near the forefront of your mind, we'll publish articles from time to time which we hope will bring good news into our lives! The first one is about OWLS!

In case you would like a virtual wander around the Arboretum, here is a map of the Arboretum with walking trails. And here is a very snazzy Interactive Forest Map which shows patterns of forest planting and lots of details about the species as well. Hours of fun!

Article - Trees! What are they good for? Absolutely everything! An article by Dr Brett Summerell

Read this fascinating article written by Lauren Brown, former Community Engagement Officer at the Arboretum, about Citizen Science which recently appeared in Roots magazine. It's entitled Australian Case Study: National Arboretum partners with Citizen Science Volunteers. Our thanks to BCGI for its publication.

The latest issue of Eucalypt, newsletter of the Australian Association of Friends of Botanic Gardens (AAFBG) is now available. There's an article from the Australian National Botanic Gardens and one from the Royal Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, recently visited by our Friends' Chair, Trish Keller OAM. I'd love to run a winter program of coffee mornings and talks - what would the theme be for the talks ... Anyway, read all about it here!

'Name That Flower' - now being published in its 3rd edition - is a valued source of clear and concise information on identifying flowering plants from around the world, both cultivated and in the wild. This edition is updated to align with current systems of plant classification that incorporate advances in molecular DNA analysis. It includes more than 130 detailed line drawings, 64 colour pages and information on 46 plant families.