It took many years and the support of hundreds of volunteers before the popular Growing Illawarra Natives website was launched just days before the Covid pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020.

Last weekend, about 70 contributors and supporters of the website gathered for a fifth anniversary sundown celebration at the Old Court House near Belmore Basin.

Co-collaborators for the website, native plant lovers Dr Emma Rooksby and Leon Fuller felt it was important to celebrate the important milestone, providing an opportunity to thank everyone who contributed.

Uncle Richard Davis provided the Welcome to Country and the newly formed gypsy jazz band Hot Club of Wollongong gave an engaging debut performance.

The fifth anniversary also provided The Illawarra Flame with an opportunity to relive the evolution of the Growing Illawarra Natives website as we sat down for a cuppa and ice cream with the energetic Emma and Leon.

Leon, who has authored and co-authored several books on native plants, including Wollongong's Native Trees, said he pitched the idea of a website to Emma about a decade ago.

People wanted a native plant website

"People were saying they didn't want another book about native plants, they wanted a website," Leon said.

"I told Leon I could help," Emma said. "I was suffering chronic fatigue at the time and I thought this was a project that would be helpful for me."

The pair met weekly on Wednesdays for about a year to map out the vision for what they wanted to achieve.

"One reason Leon and I decided to create the website is our shared interest in protecting and restoring urban diversity in Wollongong," Emma said. "Another was because we both think the local plants and ecology are interesting in their own right.

"We talked about what the website should do, and what it would look like. What plant species we should include, and over time we got an agreed list together. The key criterion was that the plants must have originated here."

Starting with a long list of about 2,500 plants, it was gradually narrowed down to 800, and then finally to about 600 for inclusion on the website.

 "We held several workshops to get input from people with an interest in native plants, which was wonderful as we got a lot of energy behind it," Emma said. "Then we identified the area to be included in the website from Stanwell Park in the north, south to the Shoalhaven River, and west to the cliff line of the escarpment."

Built entirely by volunteers

One thing Emma and Leon are most proud of is that the Growing Illawarra Natives website was entirely developed and designed by volunteers.

"While Leon and I spent years working on all aspects of the content [Leon says Emma deserves most of the credit for content creation] and the overall website structure, we worked closely with horticulturist Carl Glaister, someone deeply familiar with local plants and ecology," Emma said.

"Hundreds of people chipped in their time to prepare or review plant profiles, share photographs and to develop a functional and appealing web design. And our website and database designer, Dan Halldorsson, put in an enormous amount of work, making the website the beautiful thing it is.

"We enjoyed working this way and it meant we had no deadlines or time pressure. It took five years from Leon suggesting the idea to the actual website launch, which happened the Saturday before Covid lockdowns in March 2020.”

'Accessible and engaging'

Five years on and Emma and Leon remain very proud of what they've created and how much it's appreciated. It has clearly met their original brief.

"The website promotes the appreciation and cultivation of plants local to the Illawarra region. It's accessible and engaging, designed to appeal to people who might not necessarily have an interest in local native plants for their own sake," Emma said.

Emma and Leon said over the five years they've had fantastic feedback about the Growing Illawarra Natives website.

"People don't realise there are so many indigenous plants here in the region,'' Leon said. ''They find the photographs on the website so helpful to identify the local plant species.''

''They also use the website to work out which plants to use in their garden, and where to buy their plants,'' Emma said. ''People use it for tips on garden design and growing plants in the different soils in this region.''

To find out more visit the website at growingillawarranatives.org or find Growing Illawarra Natives on Facebook and Instagram