Roleybushcare has just embarked on an exciting new project. Ian Colquhoun, the chair of the Group, said ‘The project is called Local Plants for Local Areas and we have received a $5000 grant from the SGIO Community Grant Program. Nurseries stock very few plant species that are local to Roleystone so we will grow them ourselves. However, it is not going to be easy because many species that are common in our local forest need to be grown from cuttings.’ The SGIO grant was used to purchase a commercial propagation unit designed specifically for cuttings – it has an automatic mist sprayer and a built-in heating pad to encourage root growth. The plants will be used to rehabilitate patches of local bushland that have been severely affected by dieback and weeds.

Mady Colquhoun (left), Ian Colquhoun and Diane Horgan admire Roleybushcare’s new propagation unit containing Adenanthos and Grevillea plants.