Table Of ContentBookReviews
SGAP: the story ofArthur Swaby
and the Society for Growing Australian Plants
byJohn Walter
Publisher:AustralianPlantsSociety(SGAP Victoria) Inc, 2007. xii + 236pages,
paperback; ISBn'9780909830625. RRP$29.95
The Society for Growing Australian Plants The Field Naturalists Club ofVictoria was
(SGAP) is perhaps Australia’s premier central to the foundation ofthe Society. Its
organisation committed to the advocacy of foundersweremembers oftheClub, which
the conservation of Australian plants and was the seedbed ofsocieties that for many
their use in horticulture. There can be few years were in the forefrontofpublic activi-
people seeking to establish a native plant ties in the conservation area. Like the
garden, or simply to grow indigenous Society, both the Victorian National Parks
plants on their suburban blocks, who have Association and the Native Plants
not sought information from the Society Preservation Society had their origins in
and its publications as to what plants are committees of the Club. This book is
suitable for their circumstances. From its therefore a contribution to that part ofthe
small beginnings in Victoria, the Society Club’s history and its participation in the
has grown to include branches in all states wider issues of conservation, the use of
and a vigorous network of study groups, Australian native plants in horticulture,
the attention of which is concentrated revegetation, andotherrelated fields.
largelyon specificgenera. The Societycel- In telling the story of the SGAP the
ebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2007. To author traces the paths by which the
mark this milestone it has published founders came to their love ofAustralian
SGAP: the story ofArthur Swaby and the plants and their determination to create a
Society for Growing Australian Plants, society that would be a home to those who
written byJohn Walter. shared their interest in the native flora.
This book is more than a history ofthe While each of the founding members is
Society. It starts with the early enthusiasts given their due, the subtitle draws particu-
ofusing Australian plants in horticulture, lar attention to Arthur Swaby as the ener-
stretching back into the nineteenth century: getic promoter of the Society. The early
thosewhowroteaboutit, establishednative years, while the Society was feeling its
plant nurseries and advocated the use of way, were difficult, with ructions particu-
Australian plants in public gardens. Well- larly over drawing up a constitution.
known people such as Thistle Harris, Swaby was vigorous in promoting his
Edwin Ashby, Edward Pescott and George ideas, using as a principal means of com-
Althofer are introduced and their early munication the popular gardening maga-
contribution outlined. The foundation of zine Your Garden. The picture emerges of
the Society is thus placed against this Swaby’s strong desire to see his ideas car-
background ofa dedicated group ofpeople ried to fruition, but also ofhis impatience
passionate about the merits ofAustralian ofrestraint and determination to be at the
plants. In establishing the Society its centre of things. Flis mistrust of office
founders were building on the work of bearers eventually led to his resignation
these forerunners. They were also attempt- from the Society.
ing to provide a formal means by which This is a book rich in detail. The author
the wider community could be encouraged charts the Society’s progress from its first
to grow native plants. The book is notjust meeting in July 1957 and its early
a history of the Society, but also ofthe upheavals, through the establishment of
native plant movement in the broader his- branches across Australia and the linking
toryofAustralian horticulture. federal council, to the formation of the
Vol. 125 (3) 2008 85
1
BookReviews
tact details of state and local groups
together with times and places of meet-
ings; award winners; and active study
groups. Some of Swaby’s ‘poetic lines’
about the Grampians constitute the sixth
appendix. The index is limited to names of
people and some organisations. No list is
provided ofthe archival material consulted
orofthe publications cited (although these
can be discerned by reference to the exten-
sive footnotes). In a work ofthis kind such
a list of source material is considered a
necessity.
Walterhasbroughtto life an organisation
that played a central part in the Australian
horticultural world in the second half of
the twentieth century. He has woven a
story ofconsiderable complexity, follow-
ing the Society from its early uncertainties
to its current pre-eminent position. The
Society acted as a catalyst in popularising
the use ofthe indigenous flora in horticul-
ture and in bringing together many people
Australian Plants Society, a nation-wide who shared a love ofAustralian plants. Its
organisation with regional branches and 3 publications are recognised for their high
quality and authoritative information.
individual groups specialising in specific
groups ofAustralian plants or aspects of Members ofthe Society advocated the use
their use in horticulture. (It was, in fact, ofnative plants as suitable for horticulture
Swaby’s dream that the Society should be in Australia’s climatic conditions long
constituted with such special interest before itwas widely recognised amongthe
groups.) Along the way much space is general public that our traditional gardens,
devoted to the publications produced by heavily water-dependent, were increasing-
the Society, particularly the journal ly unsustainable. Walter’s treatment ofthe
Australian Plants and the monographs that history ofthe Society is worthy ofits suc-
came from both the study groups and cesses.
regional groups.
In writing this book the author has made
extensiveuseofrecords, particularlyofthe M
Helen Cohn
Field Naturalists Club and the Australian
RoyalBotanicGardens,Melbourne
Plant Society, and madeadetailed studyof BirdwoodAvenue
Swaby’s published papers. These sources SouthYarra,Victoria3141
are clearly a rich lode for the historian.
Walter also, by judicious use ofextracts
from transcripts of interviews with the
people involved in the story, and their
friends and family members, has brought
their ‘voice’ to the fore and given immedi-
acy to the narrative. There are copious
illustrations from a wide variety of
sources, including reproductions of letters
and photographs ofkey people. There are
six appendices, five ofwhich contain the
sort ofinformation that is often difficult to
find elsewhere: lists ofoffice bearers; con-
86 The Victorian Naturalist
