Native Plant ID Course here at the Community Nursery 26-27th March
A two day native plant ID course will be held at the Southland Community Nursery on Thursday 26 and Friday 27th March 2026. These courses are part of the nationally run series of courses which includes – pest control, Five Minute bird counts, monitoring etc and as we are the venue, but not organising it, you must register with NMIT – see poster and link below
https://www.nmit.ac.nz/study/short-courses/cfs423-plant-identification
Consequently, the Nursery wont be open for volunteers that Friday. However, on other Fridays we are concentrating on seed collecting – working through our list of species to collect. Some, like red tussock, toe toe and Carex have been collected already and we are busy looking for fruity seeds like Coprosma, Corokia, Melicytus, Fuchsia, Astelia before the birds get them. Following collection we will be busy cleaning and treating seeds ready for sowing in June. If you are interested in this aspect of propagation come on a Friday morning and join the fun.
On the subject of seeds, well fruit, we have been busy with 50 kg of damson plums (kindly donated), and those attending on Fridays have also taken their fair share! We intend to have a damson themed night on Sunday 15 March, so bring your makings along to the Nature Centre! For the record, Ive done damson paste, schmootsch, jam, sauce, and damson vodka, tho that wont be ready for the Sunday night!
Chris
Posted: 8 March 2026