Spring has arrived with its usual rapidly changing weather, sunny and warm one day, windy and chilly the next.  Not much dampness around which is sad for all the garden lovers out there.
The beginning of spring this year also heralded the Royal Adelaide Show.  The Fern Society has a beautiful display of ferns from 3 of our members gardens to be admired and coveted by many fern lovers attending the show.
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Winter in South Australia means cold weather, particularly cold nights.  And we hope some rain, but its been in very short supply during the last month of Autumn, just a bit of drizzle in the last day or so.
Cold nights makes for reluctant meeting attenders, but hopefully people will still venture out and enjoy the great display of ferns and the friendly discussion.  Lovely turnout in April :) :)
To lure some people out in July we are having a 'hands on' terrarium making workshop.  All participants will receive a glass receptacle, charcoal, soil, decorative pebbles and 2 ferns at a cost of $25 and make the terrarium at the meeting.  I was pleasantly surprised at the enthusiasm for this idea at the April meeting.
Deposit to secure your place required at the latest at the June meeting of $15 with final payment in July.  Full payment can be made at anytime, payments can be cash at the meeting or by bank transfer with your surname and terrarium as the reference.
LAST CHANCE for members to pay their 2024 subs is the end of this month or they will drop off the mailing list.  
The May newsletter will be going out via email today and in the post (as soon as it comes back from the printer).  The revised constitution will be up for final discussion at the May meeting with potential for voting on acceptance at the June meeting.  Printed copies will be posted out to all members who receive printed newsletters and it will also be emailed out to everyone else.
​Keep warm (and watering!)

2023 has seen the Fern Society establish itself in the meeting venue at 6 Jeanes Street, Beverley on the last Friday of each month (except December).

Wayne has stepped back up as President and Malcolm has taken on the role of Vice President.  Jill is still Secretary and Margaret has taken on the role of Treasurer.  Bruce is going to be the Minute Secretary, for which Jill is eternally grateful.  

Sadly we lost Trevor, treasurer and life member to cancer early in the month after a short battle.  Members attended his funeral and found he was a man of many talents throughout his life including being a wine maker and winning awards for doing so.  He will be missed by many, in particular, his two daughters and their families.

Several social events have been planned for 2023 and further information is available in the monthly newsletter regarding these.  

The Begonia and Fern show was well attended early in March and we will be participating in the Festival of Flowers on Saturday 22nd April from 10am to 4pm at the Angle Park Greyhound Park, 55 Cardigan Street together with many other garden and plant clubs selling plants to the public.

We have met in Manningham from February to June on a Wednesday night.  Members have decided to revert back to a Friday night meeting (which was not an available night at the RSL hall) and a new venue has been found.

The Maltese Guild Hall has been used as a meeting and sale venue by the Bromeliad Society successfully for many years.  We are now going to be meeting on the LAST FRIDAY of the MONTH from July until November 2022 at 6 Jeanes St Beverley.  There is good parking both onsite and on the street with no restrictions.  Easy access to the hall (level ground and no steps) and good heating and cooling.  The general meeting will be conducted in the main hall and the committee meeting will be held at 6pm in the side room.  There is also a large kitchen for us to use for supper preparation and serving with a cupboard being made available to store our supper supplies including cups.

The Model T Ford Clubrooms are going to be demolished and rebuilt - timeline unknown at this point and the design of the building is also not known.  If members are happy with the Maltese Guild Hall we will have the option of extending our lease beyond the end of the year (as long as they are happy with our tenancy).

We believe it could be an option for future fern sales also.  Please come along as soon as you are able to a meeting and provide the committee with feedback regarding the venue.  

There will be a surprise gift for an attendee on the first meeting night as well as the usual raffle prizes.  Hope to see you all there on 29th July.

2022 has begun with a lot of unwanted happenings in the public world of viruses, but we have to find a way not to become isolated and locked away from everyone.  Its not easy but it's important for our mental well-being to spend time with people and feel safe and valued.

The Fern Society has found a new meeting location for the first 6 months of 2022.  Not because we were unhappy with the Port Road location, but because the building has to undergo some unforeseen major repairs.  The Model T Ford Club has worked very hard to accommodate all of the hiring groups in the best possible way and they need to be complimented for all the hard work that has been put into sourcing a venue.  We met at the proposed location in the past week and have decided it is a good spot for us - it is bigger than the Model T Ford Clubrooms so the current requirement of 1 person per 4 square metres will allow us to have 50 people in attendance, there is ample parking, there is a kitchen we can use for providing tea, coffee etc and we are hoping that although for some of our regular attendees it is a little further to travel it will still be viable for them to come along.  The other change it has necessitated is a CHANGE OF MEETING DAY/NIGHT to the last Wednesday of the month which may even be better for some than a Friday night - we won't know until we get some feedback and see how attendance rates are.

Our first meeting will be held on Wednesday 23rd February (as the last Wednesday in January is a public holiday) at 7.30pm.  The display genus will be Platycerium and there will be a workshop run by Tate Hancox who joined the society in August 2021 and has a vast knowledge of a wide range of plant species and a love of Platyceriums.

We will hold our AGM on Wednesday 30th March and further details of that night will be posted in due time.  The January newsletter will be emailed and posted to members in the next week or two.

​Hope to see many of you on Wednesday 23rd February at 7.30pm.  Cheers Jill

Gosh, I hate technology sometimes, had almost finished the blog and somehow it disappeared!

The June meeting will bring something a little different to the Fern Society.  At the request of one of our committee members we are asking people to bring in their favourite shadehouse plant(s) for the display table.  Members present will be given one voting chip to vote on their favourite display plant.  Hopefully there will be lots of lovely ferns with a couple of other plants thrown in to compliment them

Discussion topic is "What grows in your shadehouse" with all members being asked to contribute at the meeting and also prior to send through photos so a powerpoint slideshow can be created in advance for all to enjoy.  

It was lovely to welcome 3 new members to our May meeting. Joy, Gloria & Mary came along to their first meeting and received their membership packs.  Hopefully they went away having gained some knowledge about ferns and with even more enthusiasm than they came with.

As the weather gets colder, especially at night don't be put off coming along as its warm and cosy inside and a night out with friends who all share a common interest is always good for the soul.

Hope to see lots of you on the 4th - if I can get there so can you!

There is no meeting in April as our date falls on Good Friday.
Come along to the Festival of Flowers on Saturday 24th April from 10am to 4pm or Sunday 25th April from 12noon to 4pm.  Venue is St Pauls College, 792 Grand Junction Road, Gilles Plains. There will be different fern growers there each day.
Other societies present are:
African Violets; Bromeliads; Cacti & Succulents; Cottage Plants; Carnivorous Plants; Fuschias; Geraniums; Salvias & Orchids.  Entry Fee is $3.00 and there is devonshire tea and sausage sizzle too.  A Monster Raffle which will be drawn on Sunday afternoon.  So plenty to spend your hard earned dollars on and enjoy.
The Fern Society committee will meet as usual on Tuesday 13th April and is open to any members to come along and observe.
Keep weeding and preparing your plants for the winter rest period.

The next Fern Society general meeting is on Friday 7th May.

The Fern Society committee has booked a new venue for the beginning of 2021.  It will enable us to have meetings in an environment which is less susceptible to last minute change and cancellations.
We have booked the Model T Ford Clubrooms which are located in the median strip of Port Road (450 metres west of South Road).  The carpark is accessible from King Street which intersects the median strip and can be accessed when travelling west or east on Port Road.
Members are encouraged to come along and see the venue first hand and provide us with feedback regarding the ongoing use of the site.  We have booked it for February and March with a tentative booking for ongoing use on the 1st Friday of the month as that was the available date.
Its a change of venue and change of date from the 4th Friday of the month to the 1st Friday of the month.  The use of the school is always subject to the possibility of a last minute cancellation if there are COVID concerns whereas the new venue does not have the overriding issue of safety for students and staff.  The other benefit is a larger carpark where we are the only users and not competing with sporting groups or other school users, also the venue is booked exclusively to us so we won't arrive and find its being used for another purpose and have to re-organise our evening.
COVID check-in is required either by scanning the QR code or signing in on a paper list before entering the room.  Supper will be provided in a COVID safe manner.  Program details for the February meeting will be in the January newsletter.  

2020 has been nothing but unexpected on so many levels.  
I sincerely hope that everyone has found some joy in the year and am sure should give themselves a reward of some kind for the things that they have achieved, even if it is coming to the end of the year with a sense of marvel in what you have managed to survive and the small goals you have ticked along the way.

It certainly has been a good year for gardeners who have had more time, even if it was enforced, at home to spend in the garden than they normally would have.  The nursery industry seems to have grown and flourished from this event.  Most places have had some rain, even here in the driest state in the Australia we have had some nice rain events and hopefully will have more coming our way throughout the summer months.

Thankyou to everyone who came along to the Begonia & Fern Sale last Saturday and patiently waited to enter the hall and then to pay for their purchases in a COVID safe way.  Thanks also to the workers who helped people with their purchases on the day and to the growers who have lovingly nurtured their plants for others to enjoy.

We are hopeful that in April 2021 we will be able to host our Annual Fern Sale.  When we are closer to the time and can clearly see a way forward we will advertise the date and time of this event.

Keep smiling, keep gardening and keep well.
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After an enjoyable lunch time get together at The Rex Hotel in August it was decided to suspend all general meetings until January 2021.

The Begonia & Fern Sale is being held on Saturday 24th October from 10am to 3pm at the Klemzig Community Hall, 242 North East Road.  Admission $2.  This is the only opportunity for members to sell this year and for members of the public to purchase locally grown ferns and seek advice directly from the growers.

A COVID safe plan is in place and members of the public are asked to support this event and support the safety measures that we have all been so good at adapting to in 2020 to keep us all healthy and well.

The Fern Society will have another luncheon at The Rex Hotel in November in lieu of a Christmas function.  The monthly newsletter continues to be published and distributed to all members as per normal.

After such a 'dry July' weather wise its been great to have some rains in South Australia in August for both the garden lovers and the farmers.  We are about to move into the repotting season for ferns and many are starting to show signs on new growth as the days become warmer.  There is a great article in this months newsletter regarding Adiantums (Maidenhair ferns) and how to care for them.  If you're not a member and would like to become more knowledgeable about growing ferns of many varieties consider joining us.