Dear ASA Members,
We are pleased to invite you to the Aroid Society of Australia (ASA) Autumn 2026, South-East Queensland meet up.
This meet up will be held in Brisbane, at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mount Coot-Tha Auditorium, Mount Coot-Tha Rd, Toowong, on Thursday 14 May 2026, with doors opening at 6:00 pm. No members will be permitted to enter the venue until this time.
This will be a fantastic opportunity to catch up with other members of the ASA, as well as all the usual things we look forward to, including:
Guest Speaker
We are excited to announce that our guest speaker for the event will be Barry Kable. Barry is one of Brisbane’s best-known orchid growers and an exceptionally passionate horticulturist with decades of experience in cultivating, showing, judging, and hybridising orchids. A long-time member of numerous horticultural societies and a familiar name within Queensland’s gardening community, Barry has spent more than 50 years involved with the Ekka horticultural exhibition and remains deeply engaged in promoting plant growing and education.
Barry was born into a farming family where seasonal crops were cultivated regularly. After spending years in the transport industry, Barry took a leap of faith and bought into a shade house construction business. Barry soon realised that his main customer-base were hobbyist plant growers, cultivating many varieties of orchids, which sparked a keen interest. Since then, his interests have expanded further into tropical foliage plants and aroids, with an impressive collection of Anthurium, Philodendron, and Alocasia. Recently featuring on ABC’s Gardening Australia as a “local plant legend,” Barry showed off his amazing plant collection, custom made shade tunnel, tried and tested semi-hydroponic growing media, and the spectacular flowering of his Amorphophallus titanium.
Barry is admired for his generosity in sharing knowledge, his willingness to experiment, and his lifelong enthusiasm for plants. At this meeting, Barry will discuss his purpose-built climate control shade tunnel, including details of his wet wall cooler and the heating components. Very timely for our change of season in South-east Queensland! Barry will also give a demonstration on his semi-hydroponic growing media, and how this has been a gamechanger for not only his aroids, but his plant collection as a whole. Members can look forward to an engaging and inspiring presentation from one of Queensland’s true horticultural icons.
Plant Sales
Our ever-popular plant sales are happening again, with some great offerings for new and seasoned collectors alike. Please bring a box or bag to carry your purchases. EFTPOS facilities will be available for those wishing to purchase (cash is also accepted).
All members are welcome to sell plants at the event. Those wishing to sell in the plant sale must label plants using the society labels, which will be available on the day if required. Please bring a pen, have a price list prepared and your bank details ready to complete a seller form. Set up time is limited to after 5:30 pm and before 5:45 pm (AEST). All plants must be healthy and pest- and disease-free.
All aroids and their seeds are eligible to sell. The ASA takes a 10% fee on items sold to help fund the society.
Giveaways
To be in the running for the lucky door prize please ensure you have your ASA name badge, featuring the QR code and aroid illustration artwork. If you have not yet received your new badge it will be provided on the day if you are a Queensland member. If you will be visiting from interstate please let us know in advance so that we can arrange for your card to be available at the meet up.
Auctions
Our auctions give our members an opportunity to bid on some great plants with all proceeds going back to supporting the ASA running these events. All lots start with no reserve and will be available for viewing prior to auction. Maybe grab yourself an aroid gem at a bargain price!
Raffles
We will have some fantastic plants in our members raffle, with tickets at just $5 each. The more tickets you purchase, the greater your chances of winning! Once again, all proceeds go to funding the ASA and member events.
Popular Vote Competition
Our Popular Vote Competition is back, with the theme for this meet up being “Best variegated aroid”. Bring your best variegated plant to be in the running to win your choice of either a $35 ASA plant voucher or 12 months free ASA membership!
Entries will be judged by attending members on the day (plants will not be able to be touched by attendees). Please note that in order to enter, you must have owned your plant for at least 6 months.
Supper
We will have supper/light refreshments available after our guest speaker presentation, kindly prepared by the amazing Leanne and Cat. We ask that members and guests please contribute a $3.00 donation for supper – it will be well worth it!
Please note that photography and videography of the event will be taken and publicly published. You may opt out by notifying a committee member (designated by the blue ASA lanyards) at the beginning of the event.
We expect the event will run until about 9 pm.
Entry to the event is free of charge for members. Guests are also welcome to attend their first meeting free of charge.
If you have questions or requests regarding this event, please let us know by emailing queensland-south@aroids.net beforehand.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Best regards,
Aroid Society of Australia Inc. Committee