#172 The Art of the Graft: How Helen Howard Is Saving Australia's Rarest Plants One Splice at a Time

What if you could save a plant from extinction and have it flowering in your garden within eighteen months? In this episode, Dani sits down with Helen Howard, horticulturist and nursery manager at the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens in NSW, to explore the remarkable world of plant grafting.With over thirty years of experience and a career that spans Ireland, England, and across Australia, Helen has dedicated herself to grafting Australian native plants from grevilleas and brachychitons to rare species teetering on the edge of disappearance. She explains how grafting works, why it matters for conservation, and how backyard gardeners can try it themselves.Along the way, we hear about Frankenstein trees, the mummy graft technique, near-extinct grevilleas brought back from the brink, and why hygiene is the one thing every grafter must never skip.If you've ever wondered why native plants can be so expensive, why grafted citrus fruits grow so much better, or what it takes to actually save a species — this episode is for you.🌷 Find Helen and the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens🪷 Search "Botanic Gardens Heatherbrae"🌼 Grafting workshops run every two months, limited to 6 participants.More Informationhttps://www.huntergardens.org.au/https://www.facebook.com/helen.howard.108152https://austplants.com.au/https://anpsa.org.au/study_group/grevillea-study-group/If you enjoy this podcast, please like and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.Leave us a review and share this show with your friends.It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.Contact the ShowWe are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.You can email us at: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.