Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Bill Cane - A Man of His Time

Have you ever heard of a Plantsman/Nurseryman named Bill Cane. Bill was a well known local that lived in this district and a good friend of our friends here in town. Bill has been dead for quite some time, but his plants are still a reminder of his love of the Australian Native plants. The main photo in the header of Just Correas Facebook page, shows one of Bill's never released Correas, which I've affectionately named after him and is only grown between two of us in town. Other plants of Bill's are still around, a pink Hardenbergia, or what about a white form of Diggers Speedwell which is a beautiful plant which he collected from Mt Imlay, but everyone thinks there is only one colour. His most famous plant was Banksia canei.

My friend and Bill's, wrote a great story about Bill Cane, well worthy of a read if you get the time, you can find it here - http://www.bencruachan.org/bill_cane.htm

The true legacy of Bill Cane will never be fully known, as not all about him is in a book. Bill Cane and Jean Galbraith were great friends, Jean's work forms another story about the native plants in Victoria. A great lady of her time too.

Wiki also have a small insight into Bill Cane - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cane