By Luke Voogt
For those who fancy a drive down the coast, Anglesea’s award-winning wildflower and art show will be back in town, starting this Saturday.
Organiser Sally White said the event would showcase the incredible diversity and “natural richness” of the surf coast.
“The area contains about one-quarter of Victoria’s indigenous flora or around 620 plant species, some rare or endangered.”
“It’s also home to more than 100 species of orchids, making it one of the top four ground orchid sites in the world.”
The event falls on the first weekend of school holidays, and Ms White said it would make a great family outing.
“Especially for those who like the bush but don’t know much about it,” she added.
The Roaming Reptiles exhibit is a favourite among the youngsters, Ms White said, offering children the chance to handle live snakes, lizards and crocodiles.
“The kids will be excited about touching the snakes – although I wouldn’t be,”
Anglesea, Aireys Inlet Society for the Protection of Flora and Fauna (ANGAIR) has run the Wildflower and Art Weekend for 34 years, Ms White said.
She and the rest at ANGAIR have spent the past few months collecting a colourful plethora of local flowers from local “bush properties”
Ms White said some of the flowers were so difficult to cultivate that ANGAIR members had to pick them in the wild – with a permit of course.
“The common heath – Victoria’s floral emblem – is almost impossible to grow. Basically the only hope is going into the bush and finding one.”
Local experts will offer guided walking and bus tours to some of Anglesea’s wildflower sites during the weekend.
“It’s great for people who like bush walking, but don’t know what to look for,” Ms White said.
“You can go down tracks you wouldn’t normally go down, because you wouldn’t know they are there.”
Colourful displays of the area’s wildflowers will dominate the Anglesea Memorial Hall – and even weed displays.
“People can see lovely flowers like the African boneseed, which is actually a weed and has all-but-smothered the You Yangs,” Ms White said.
The ANGAIR Wildflower and Art Weekend will run from in Anglesea Hall from 10am to 4pm on 17 and 18 September.
Other attractions include sales of indigenous plants grown by ANGAIR volunteers, second-hand natural history books and art and craft.
The local CFA will also be on hand to give show-goers life-saving tips.
The Wildflower Weekend won the Surf Coast Shire’s Community Event of the Year award last year.
