Commonly know as the Kaffir Lily some refer to Clivia nobilis as the ‘Drooping Clivia’ due to the large cluster of red tube-like flowers that hang from the stem. They were originally named after Lady Charlotte Florentina Clive, Duchess of Northumberland and granddaughter of Robert Clive, better known as Clive of India. She was famous in the world of gardening as the first to cultivate the flower of a Clivia nobilis in her greenhouse.

Clivias are wonderful, hardy plants that do well in almost all garden situations. Native to Natal in South Africa, they add a tropical lushness to any garden with their glossy dark green strap-like leaves and bright orange-to-red flowers. They tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, although they do not like extremely cold regions where they are often grown in pots allowing them to be brought indoors in winter.

Clivia flowers brighten up any garden in winter as their flowering season starts around mid-to-late winter and continues into the summer months. They can grow in dense shade but prefer filtered light, which makes them ideal for growing under the shade of trees, along the dark south sides of houses or for filling in gaps in the garden. Clivias perform well in soil that is free draining and mulched, although this is not essential.

They are very drought tolerant, requiring some watering in the spring and summer, with practically no watering over the cooler months of winter. Use a complete fertiliser in spring, preferably a slow release product. The dead flowers do not have to be removed as another spectacular feature of the Clivias is the red berries they produce. These set seeds and can produce new plants, although they will take about five years to produce any flowers.

Due to the popularity and durability of Clivias they have become quite expensive. Dividing your existing clump is the most productive and cost-effective way to expand your display. Division can take place anytime after flowering, although spring time is the best. Simply lift the plant from the soil and separate into smaller sections by cutting and breaking up the clump. Then replant the smaller pieces.

Clivia nobilis can be seen in Centennial Parklands amongst the other Clivia miniata planted en masse adjacent to Randwick Gates on Grand Drive.

A while back, our resident birdwatcher, Trevor Waller, sent us this very funny picture. He said: “I was searching for a Black Swan when I saw the very rare and dangerous Sydney Saltwater Crocodile in Busbys Pond near the Vernon Pavilion.”  We all enjoyed this optical illusion and hope you do too!

It certainly looks like a crocodile...but no!

Welcome to Part 2 of our three-part blog series featuring three photographers whose works are being  showcased as part of the “Ludlites Love Nature” Exhibition. This free exhibition, part of the Head On Photo Festival, is on at the Superintendent’s Residence every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from now until June 3 2012 (9.00 am – 5.00 pm).

We encourage you to visit the Superintendent’s Residence and have a look at the amazing possibilities that come from simple, plastic-lens,  non-digital cameras!

Today’s Guest Bloger is Anthony McGovern, one of 11 Ludlites exhibiting their photographs. Don’t forget to check out our blog next Thursday featuring fellow Ludlite – Heleana Genaus.

Nature is all around

I started my artistic journey as a designer in the advertising industry and at the age of 25 I formed my own design business.

On a trip to London in 2008, I came across a funny looking army green plastic camera in the gift shop at the The Hayward Gallery after a Warhol Exhibition, it was instant love. Thanks Andy.

Since then it has been a life of experimentation, capturing life within a robust plastic camera that has been my trusty companion around the world, even in minus 25 degrees at Niagra Falls. Bless. While I’m slightly obsessed with bare tree branches, sunlight and the textures of the urban cityscape, any object or scene can have a life of its own thanks to the lomography cameras like the Holga. Freedom is using film where there are no guarantees on the final result, just like in life. And the results can sometimes move people to see life in a different light.

My vision for this exhibition was to make people feel that ‘nature’ is surrounding them, encasing them with all of her beauty and serenity.

Nestled in our cityscape is Centennial Park, an expansive Park that once you walk into it, you rediscover a calmness in life. The soft feel of grass beneath your feet, the smell of flowers, the sound of leaves rustling with the breeze will soothe your stress away like a distant memory. You can forget for a while that you are in the middle of the chaotic city, instead be cocooned from the outside world and released into this haven.

All my images in the exhibition are shot on location within the Park. They are each shot as an entire roll in one multi-layered organic image made up of 40-50 shots all overlapped to capture a 360 degree view, recreating the world around me at that particular time of the day, in that particular part of the park. I have captured the feeling of being in the moment, taking the time to stop and appreciate what is there, all the patterns, colours, textures, everything surrounding me. From how the sunlight creates its own world of shadow patterns playing off paperbark tree trunks and grass meadows, to the patterns that tree canopies cast against the blue sky.

What better way to capture this then through lomography. If you immerse yourself in these worlds, there is so much to discover and capture.

By Anthony McGovern, May 2012

In celebration of National Volunteers Week, we would like to share the story of our Volunteer Archivist, Christine Shergold, who has spent nearly two years sorting and cataloging over a thousand historical images of the Parklands.

Meet our Volunteer Archivist

Christine Shergold in the Archival room at Centennial Park

Every Saturday morning Christine Shergold disappears into the dark climate-controlled recesses of the Centennial Parklands Historical Archive Room to inspect, sort and catalogue a somewhat rogue collection of archival material!

Christine knows the challenge of archiving and is not daunted by the challenges that the Parklands collection presented her with. She is a qualified librarian and archivist, having worked with the State Records Authority of NSW for 37 years.

“In many cases there were multiple copies of images, negatives that had become separated from their image, not to mention incomplete references,” she said. Christine has just finalised a major project that involved cataloguing and digitising a collection referred to as the Historical Images collection. This includes images from the making of Centennial Park in 1887 up to images taken of the Commonwealth’s 50th Anniversary celebrations in 1951.

Most of the images are from libraries such as the State Library and the National Library. Many depict scenes of the Federation of the Commonwealth in 1901. However there are also fascinating images from various military-style events, such as the “Scene at the Review of the American Fleet”, taken in August 1908 and owned by the Australian War Memorial.

“Archival work is a slow process, however it can be pretty exciting,” say Christine. She recalls the time when she discovered an interesting black and white image in a Study commissioned by Centennial Park in 1970. She was determined to track it down! “The scene showed a man on a horseback with a beautiful vista in the background. I couldn’t find the image itself, but a few months into my investigations, Waverley Council donated a lot of images to our collection. To my delight, it included a colour postcard of that same image! It was a very happy moment.”

Find out more about volunteering in Centennial Parklands

Centennial Parklands volunteers devote their time and energy into so many facets of the Parklands, from weeding, planting, customer service and much more. On behalf of everyone at Centennial Parklands we thank all our wonderful volunteers for their tireless work.

The Montezuma Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) is a large semi-evergreen coniferous tree native to Mexico and Southern Texas.

There are several specimens of Montezuma Cypress that have been planted in the Musgrave Avenue area of the Parklands, most notably near the One More Shot Pond. These small examples were grown on by seed sourced from Mexico (where it is the national tree) and have been planted near a reliable source of water.

These trees will eventually reach a remarkable size, and will complement existing specimens of northern hemisphere conifers and deciduous trees in this area of Centennial Park.

This magnificent species is often described as being a large shrub as it often develops multiple trunks that form an expansive canopy of dark green, pendulous foliage. This species is known to be among the largest trees in diameter in the world.

Montezuma Cypress in Centennial Park

Taxodium are also known to be fast growing and very drought tolerant, often reaching heights of up to 40 metres and favour areas with reliable access to water, such as near rivers and marshes.

These trees have been used as ornamental trees in parks and gardens as well as being planted along riparian zones. Like most conifers, propagation is by seed collected from the cones that appear on the tree late in summer.

Have you seen this specimen of tree in the Parklands, or in its native habitat? Do you have one in your own garden? What can you tell us about it?