Anne Langmaid and her daughter Jenny are excited for the launch of the new book on Saturday. 84086 Picture: MATHEW LYNN
By VANESSA VALENZUELA
A NEW book about flora and fauna in the West will encourage gardeners to grow plants to attract native wildlife in Brimbank.
The book, Plants of Melbourne’s Western Plains, is the second edition produced by The Keilor Plains Group of the Australian Plants Society after their first book published in 1995 sold out more than 12 years ago.
Environmentalist Anne Langmaid, who has been a member of the Keilor Plains group for almost 19 years, said she had been captured by the beauty of the plants in the area when she first moved to Keilor.
“I was absolutely entranced and gobsmacked. I didn’t realise the breadth and the range of native plants,” Ms Langmaid said.
Ms Langmaid said the Keilor Plains group decided to write the new book because the landscape in Brimbank had changed over the years and new plants had been discovered.
“It had to be completely redone because a lot of things had changed and a lot of new books had been made that were better organised,” Ms Langmaid said.
“There are three times are many plants described and 450 more photos. It’s more of an all-encompassing book with a little bit about the lizards, frogs and birds in the area.”
Ms Langmaid said the 223-page book would help residents identify the different types of plants they found in their backyard and encourage gardeners to grow indigenous plants and attract native wildlife.
“One of my delights is looking out at my garden and seeing the butterflies and birds. I would not have any of that if I didn’t have the local plants in there,” Ms Langmaid said.
‘Plants of Melbourne’s Western Plains’ will be launched at the Leaping Lizard Centre in Brimbank Park on Saturday at 2pm.
The book will be available from Monday at indigenous nurseries and bookshops.
