Wildflowers Australia | Organisation

Wildflowers Australia

Phone: +61 434 265 817

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21.01.2022 Correcting misinformation about imported cut flowers: The Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment [Plant Systems and Strategies | Biosecurity Plant Division] issued a media statement today correcting the misinformation that was circulated recently about cut flower imports. This statement is published on their website - https://www.awe.gov.au//correcting-misinformation-about-cu... Below - Banksia plantation in NSW

18.01.2022 Bushfires impact our wildflower growers It’s been heartbreaking to hear that several wildflower farms in NSW and Victoria have been completely destroyed in the recent bushfires. Other growers have been under severe stress with fires circling around their farms with some close calls. We wish the affected growers all the best as they start the long and arduous task of rebuilding. One way fellow growers can help is by donating items and equipment that affected growers could us...e as they re-establish their plantations. WFA member Wafex is focusing their efforts on helping the flower growers directly impacted by the fires. They have set up a gofundme campaign and have been running other fundraisers that will also go towards this campaign. In addition they are accepting donations of plants and other farm materials. See https://www.gofundme.com/f/wafex-flower-grower-bushfire-fun The fund will be open until February 15. For industry members needing support, business.gov.au have created a dedicated bushfire support webpage detailing all information and support available. The bushfire support webpage includes: Government financial help Grants and programs National, state and territory emergency information Employer support Insurance claims Mental health and wellbeing support The page is updated daily to include updated relevant information including on ministerial announcements on support for business: https://www.business.gov.au/news/bushfire-support

18.01.2022 Festive wildflower inspirations... Wildflowers were given the wow treatment by Sydney florist Andrew Lawson at the November meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) Floral Art Group. Andrew has been a florist for many years and operates 'Flowers on Queen Street' in Campbelltown. He has competed in many Interflora competitions and has demonstrated for many organisations including TAFE, Interflora, the Professional Florists Association and the RHS. He is the designer... behind the striking displays at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show. The arrangements below show how the same product range can be used in so many different ways. They include some less common Australian native products available in the lead up to Christmas Christmas bells (Blandfordia grandiflora), Dorigo waratah (Alloxylon pinnatum ) and Backhousia (which looks like green Christmas bush).

17.01.2022 Floristry competition update! Entries for this year’s national student floristry competition are awaiting judging. 62 entries in this year like no other was a huge achievement. Thank you to students and teachers at these colleges for their efforts through greatly reduced class time. They come from these 9 colleges located in Qld, NSW and WA: > Canberra Institute of Technology, ACT... > Flowers to Impress, Qld (a private college new to the competition this year) > Pearsons School of Floristry, Sydney > South Metro TAFE, WA 2 classes > TAFE NSW Padstow campus 2 classes > TAFE NSW Ryde-Hornsby campus 2 classes > TAFE NSW Richmond campus > TAFE NSW Ultimo campus > The Flower School, Brisbane The students' designs, skills and design notes are amazing. Well done.

16.01.2022 Well done everyone!!!

14.01.2022 Please note - these are LAST YEAR'S WINNERS - to get you inspired for the competition this year.

12.01.2022 Introducing our main 2021 competition sponsor We thank East Coast Wildflowers for stepping up as the main sponsor for our 2021 competition. The company is one of Australia's leading suppliers of Australian Native and South African Wildflowers, supplying high quality seasonal flowers and foliages all year round including many sought after and unusual products. They are based at the busy Sydney Flower Market.... They grow a huge range of crops on their farm - extensive field plantings, and a wide range of flowers under cover. There is specialist expertise on farm to propagate many products and develop new ones. East Coast Wildflowers also source and supply from other leading growers and wild product harvesters from across Australia. Craig Scott at East Coast Wildflowers has a strong focus on helping trainee florists and educating customers about the incredible diversity and range of products available. Website: http://www.eastcoastwildflowers.com.au Email: [email protected]

07.01.2022 ‘Circle of light’ the 2021 National Student Floristry Competition WildFlowers Australia (WFA) is again hosting this very popular competition. To enter you must be studying at Certificate III level at TAFE or a private floristry college which is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). This year we’re taking inspiration from the word ‘corona’, looking for a positive, floral interpretation of the word. Beyond the virus, astronomers recognise a corona as a white or coloured... circle of light surrounding a luminous body like the sun or the moon. Entrants will design and make a hair circlet, also known as a flower crown. They will be using mainly fresh materials but up 20% of materials used may be dried and/or preserved. As always, the competition focusses on expanding students’ knowledge about and inclusive use of Australian grown wildflowers, whether they are native to Australia or South Africa. Students can explore using only wildflowers or choose to include up to 25% traditional/exotic or tropical flowers. Students enter the competition via their teachers who will provide important encouragement and assess each entry. We will be contacting teachers on our database by the end of April providing them with all the details of the competition to share with their students. Any teacher who has not been involved previously can contact us at [email protected] for further info. The competition will be run in semester 2, allowing students to select from the abundance of products available in late winter to early spring. Deadline for entries is Wednesday September 22. A HUGE thank you to our sponsors Sponsors are critical for the competition to go ahead. We thank the following businesses and organisations for their generosity this year! Main sponsor: East Coast Wildflowers Gold: Koch & Co. Silver: Helix Australia, International Protea Association (IPA), Wildflower industry Network of NSW Inc (WIN), Wildflowers WA Bronze: All Things Botanical, Flowers magazine, Premium Greens, Tesselaar Flowers, Wafex Grower sponsors: Broken River Proteas, Brushtop Farm. You will be meeting our sponsors in greater detail in future posts. [Photo this vibrant flower crown was one of the stunning designs created by florists Mel Anderson and Helen Williams from White House Flowers at our event ‘Walking on the wildside’ in 2016].

07.01.2022 Last but not least - thanks to our competition sponsors! Without their help, there would be NO competition. Huge thanks to:... Brushtop Farm East Coast Wildflowers Flowers magazine Florilegium Helix Australia International Protea Association Premium Greens Australia Wildflower Industry Network of NSW Inc. WildFlowers Australia See more

07.01.2022 'Purely Australian' - only native Australian species used. Quite a challenge!

07.01.2022 ‘Circle of light’ national student floristry competition update for teachers Our 2021 theme ‘Circle of Light’ is a popular one! All competition documents were emailed to teachers and colleges on our database in late April. It has come to our attention that in some cases, our email ended up the spam folder (we understand that many Tafe colleges have tightened up security). If you as a teacher don’t recall receiving the information, please check your spam folder. Alternatively... contact us so we can send this to you again. We’d like confirmation that your students will be competing this year. By the end of June please. If your class/college will not be competing, please also let us know. We don’t want anyone to miss out! Please contact Del Thomas - [email protected] or Bettina Gollnow [email protected]

06.01.2022 Australian wildflowers are grown here and not imported!!! There have been reports in the media this week alleging that people may be buying Australian native wildflowers that are imported and not grown here in Australia. The wildflower industry is very concerned by these remarks and we have checked the details to separate fact from fiction! Australian import rules are administered by the Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment Plant Systems and Strategies... | Biosecurity Plant Division. Their advice is that only Kangaroo paw and Craspedia (Billy Buttons) are permitted imports as non-dried cut-flowers. They also noted that approximately 83 consignments of fresh cut flowers and foliage imported between 1 January 2020 and 1 January 2021 contained a species of kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos spp). This represents approximately 0.04% of total imported fresh cut flowers and foliage by volume. WildFlowers Australia is also aware that some Craspedia (Billy Buttons) is being imported, to meet market demand at times when locally grown product is not available. Claims that other fresh cut Australian native products, e.g. wattle, banksias and flowering Eucalyptus, are imported from overseas are simply WRONG. Importing natives back to Australia doesn’t make any business sense! Sadly these reports will have caused some to doubt that they are buying Australian grown product. They can be confident that they are! We are calling on Aussie florists to help their customers appreciate the beauty and diversity of these unique local products. Our unique flora captured attention on the world stage long, long ago. Here at home, consumers love native Australian products for their nationalistic and sentimental values. Many have outstanding vase life, can be dried and are highly suited to corporate floristry. At WildFlowers Australia we work hard to promote and encourage use of flowers and foliage harvested from Australian and South African species. Our annual national student floristry competition, running in its current form since 2008, is our major focus to achieve this. Details of this year’s theme and competition will be available soon!