Earthly Treasures of our Shire, a new exhibition by Jerrabomberra botanical artist Cheryl Hodges, is now open at The Q Exhibition Space in Queanbeyan.
Cheryl won the QPRC Regional Exhibition Award in 2017 with her painting Castanea sativa from Hoskinstown’s Tweenhill Chestnuts. Since then she has continued to explore the region, visiting her regular haunts and new places.
Cheryl discovered nature reserves and conservation areas and met with passionate locals who shared the fruits of their labours – from pepper berries, cider apples, honey and beautiful local wildflowers. Along the way she encountered fascinating insects and found in the Queanbeyan region’s nature reserves “flowers you may have never seen before”.
Cheryl has painted many of the natural treasures she has discovered in her signature delicate watercolour style. She hopes the paintings and accompanying stories will ignite curiosity in others to explore the region.
Cheryl wants to share the thought she carries with her every day, “wherever you are you can find something interesting and unexpected, if you take the time to look”.
When: 2-20 April, Monday-Friday 10am-4pm and Saturday 10am-2pm. Cheryl will be painting in the gallery Thursday 4, 11 and 18 April 11am-2pm.
Where: The Q Exhibition Space, Queanbeyan NSW.
Purple reign
Salvia ‘Purple Majesty’ was brought into Australia in the mid-1990s by a Melbourne nurserywoman. It is a deliberate hybridisation of Salvia guaranitica and S. gesneriiflora made at the Huntington Botanic Gardens.
This gorgeous Salvia is a herbaceous perennial shrub up to 1.5m tall and with deep velvet purple flowers on tall spikes. Flowers appear during late summer and early autumn, and are attractive to bees, beneficial insects and nectar-feeding birds.
Plant in a sunny to partly-shaded position with well-drained soil high in organic matter. Salvia‘Purple Majesty’ tolerates periodically dry soil and has an aversion to overwatering. It is a fabulous addition to an informal garden as well as being well suited to pot culture.
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