This is a great picture of the cold and damp atmosphere in our part of the world at the beginning of September. The wind is from the south-west, the rain is coming over the hills from the sea, and the flattened Manna Gum is the result of the gale-force winds of August. On the bare branches of the willow you can see the lichen that grows on everything during our cold, wet winters here.
Yes, it’s grey and it’s bleak but there’s no way we can complain about the weather when it produces such lush, green growth and the rain is filling all the dams.
We can’t help being just a little impatient for the arrival of spring, though. Every time the sun comes out, even for half an hour, I’m tempted to rush outside and find a job to do in the garden. Maybe it’s only pulling out a weed or two or pruning back a straggly bush, but it’s just wonderful to feel that little bit of heat in the atmosphere.
Wattles coming and wattles going.
The early ones, Cootamundra (A. baileyana) and Black Wattle (A. decurrens) are nearly gone and the later ones, Dog Tooth Wattle (A.cultriformis), Varnish Wattle (A.verniciflua) and Gold Dust Wattle (A. acinacea) are having their day in the sun – if there is any! Others, like A longiflora, A. drummondii and A. howittii, are just a little later in the month and in the Picasa Album here, all their photos are displayed with their date of flowering. I believe I’m going to find this pictorial and dated record a very useful reference for coming years – even if there are some variations in the seasons. It means that I can choose the placement of new wattles with the knowledge of what will be out around them.
Birds & other animals
I guess it MUST be Spring because we can now hear a couple of Magpie babies with their incessant, high-pitched: “Mu-u-um! Mu-u-um! MU-U-U-M!” No wonder the parents keep feeding them – just to shut them up!
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| A New Holland Honeyeater in the Grevillea Superb |
The Wattle Birds and New Holland Honeyeaters are very happy with all the Grevilleas, Hakeas, Eremophilas and Eucalypt flowers that are now out everywhere and we’re still hoping for some babies from the couple of Shrike Thrushes we have around. English Skylarks are singing away high up above us and there are lots of baby noises from the tiny birds – probably Scrub Wrens and Thorn Bills. I’ve also come across quite a few skinks scuttling away in the undergrowth. No sign or sound yet of any frogs, though.
Other sounds and smells
Another sound that comes and goes – depending on how much rain we have – is the very soft trickling of water seeping away under our grassy paddock. It’s still very soft and spongy but at least our land has a gentle slope that allows it to get away. A very big plus, of course, is that all the ground water is filling up, which bodes well for the lakes and the farmers’ bores.
It’s a pity we can’t have ‘smell-o-vision’ on computer. As well as the sweet smell of green grass and – for those who don’t suffer from hay-fever – the wattles, my Boronia is covered in flowers and as soon as I step outside the door I can smell it; even from round the other side of the house – providing there’s no strong wind.
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| Boronia "Heaven Scent" |
Eucalyptus preissiana
The buds of this Eucalyptus from the Mallee are thick and woody and just how these delicate flowers make their way out is one of those little wonders of nature. I’m continually astonished at the strength of flowers that burst their way out of such strong coverings. Now it’s started to flower, I’m impatient to see it covered in these big yellow blossoms.
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| Eucalyptus preissiana - just starting to flower. |
I’m always surprised at how the seeds of Australian Natives can sit in the ground for such a long time before anything happens, and how their germination times can vary so much.
In March this year, I collected seeds from my own Viminaria “Golden Spray” (V. juncea) and decided that, mimicking the way it would happen in nature, I would put them in the ground immediately. I pre-treated them with nearly-boiling water, soaking them overnight, and put them into potting mix, covering them lightly with some seed-raising mixture. I was delighted to find that within 4-5 weeks I had seven seedlings, most of which kept growing really well until about July. They then stopped growing but appeared to be still quite healthy. Because this Winter has been so cold and long, they sat there unmoving until I began to wonder if they would ever actually take off again. In desperation, at around 15th September, I put them outside in the rain, wind and occasional sun and hoped for the best.
I’m very happy to report that, yes, they have begun to grow and are looking very strong. As a bonus, I have now discovered another three or four seedlings in the same pot poking up out of the earth. This means they have sat in the soil for six months and are still quite viable. There’s just no knowing the best time to plant, is there? I guess the moral is – just keep trying different things.
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| The large seedlings around the edge were planted in May and now, in the centre (amongst the moss) are two or three new ones popping up. |
I have a number of seeds to plant – some I have collected and some I have bought as a tourist in various parts of Australia. I expect I’ll wait until it warms up just a little bit more to give them a chance once they germinate.
New plantings
After our visit to the Open Gardens in Warrnambool I’ve fallen in love with quite a few special plants and have made enquiries about buying some. I’ll probably wait till October to buy them and put them in but I’m so looking forward to a whole new range of flowers, shrubs and ground covers. There’s never an end to the learning experience, is there?
Next month
Next month there’ll be a report on what’s new, what’s been planted and what’s flowering as well as a planned visit to the Australian Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne. It will be my first visit there so I expect I’ll have lots to report.
Till then ….. Check out the Picasa site by clicking here for September pictures for this blog.
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