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WHAT’S IN FLOWER August 09
The highlight of the garden at
the moment is the high wall behind the gallery. Do stand underneath and look up
into the spotted throats of Pandora
pandorea. Some of
our young plants inside the floppy mesh fence are already in flower. Do go
inside, but shut the gate to keep the hungry kangaroos and wallabies away from
them. Hakea purpurea
beside the toilets is overloaded with blossom.
Beside the gallery near the
high tank is a delightful area to wander while enjoying your cuppa from the
thermos. Eucalyptus pachyphylla,
youngiana, and kruseana
are the ones flowering here and well as grevilleas to excite the honeyeater
birds.
Hakeas are still leading the
display at the garden, as the weather is still warm for winter.
Hakea orthorrhyncha with the naked stems of the clothed in bright red
flowers are just about finished, but the
Hakea fraseri
with weeping cream flowers are at their peak now.
Hakea francissima and bucculenta
at the end of the garden are loaded in blooms. Be
careful smelling some of the hakeas – they are not called needle bushes for
nothing! Hakea recurva
with tufts of creamy yellow blooms have particularly sharp leaves.
More and more acacias are
coming into flower. Stop at Acacia Walk and count the number of different
wattles in bloom at the moment. Let them know at the gallery and we will keep a
tally of them.
You are not the only ones to
enjoy the garden with its feast of nectar filled flowers. The birds got here
before you, and are having a ball. Honeyeater Walk is the best place to watch
out for these, early in the morning or in the late afternoon. Those who stay in
the accommodation or camp in the grounds get the best viewing.
The top end of the Loop road has a wide
variety of species to look at and there should be a selection in flower. Try to
find Eucalyptus grossa with its tough leathery leaves – a tree
with ‘character’. Babingtonia jucunda, with small white flowers
along the low arching branches, is local species. Walk this area for better
appreciation.
The original “Robyn Gordon” plant is found
near the Gordon Grevilleas sign: See if you can find all the parent plants
of the three Gordon Grevilleas.
There are a number of walks and trails in the
garden that give more appreciation of the plants within an area. If you have the
time, pick one that interests you and take a brochure and walk the trail. I
recommend the Gumnut Walk (look for Eucalyptus youngiana with the
giant gumnuts) and Honeyeater walk (check out Grevillea kennedyana
– no it is not dying!). Please remember, this is a botanic garden and it is not
allowed to remove any plant material. I hope you enjoy the garden as much as
volunteers who look after it do.
In Glenmorgan, take the time to stop and walk
around the grevillea garden and look at the line of Eucalyptus grossa
on the footpath - greeny yellow flowers. And the vintage cars at Monty’s garage
are worth a looksee.
WHAT’S IN FLOWER August 08
Whilst most of us
are experiencing unusually very dry conditions it is pleasing to see some
excellent flowering around the garden.
Travel clockwise
around the garden on the white gravel loop road with these notes. There are also
separate brochures for the Old Eucalypt Way, the Acacia Walk, Honey Eater Walk
and Western Walk if you can take the time to explore further. Please take a
garden map that includes suggestions of plants to look for.
In front of the
gallery and old sawmill are the little known Merinda Gordon grevilleas with
holly like leaves. These are hard to find in plant nurseries. Several Robyn and
Sandra Gordon plants are nearby. Take your cuppa with you and walk around the
Gallery and up towards the high tank. On the wall behind the gallery is the
Pandora pandorea vine –you can look right up into the spotted throats
of the bell flowers.
Walking towards the high tank
are examples of hybrid grevilleas, many of which are grown in home gardens.
These are regularly pruned to give plenty of new growth and flowers, whereas the
species grevilleas in the rest of the garden are not pruned at all, but are left
as in nature. There are also a number of smaller eucalypts, still in flower.
Look for flowers where the caps are just lifting off to reveal the showy
stamens.
The
tall predominant wattle is the Acacia crassa, which has
naturalised well throughout the garden and comes up regularly from seed.
Sometimes these get too thick and we need to remove them as unwanted plants.
At the twin picnic
tables under the Poplar box are many eremophilas. Park and look about. These
bushes are quite insignificant the rest of the year but become stunning when in
flower. Also find the small showy but prickly Cryptandra armata
with tiny white flowers covering its spines.Over the road, see the tall red
flowering Eucalyptus erythronema with pink flowering
Micromyrtus rosea at ground level may be in flower.
Just on from here
you can take a short cut walk down to see the Chinchilla White gums on the
walking track. Look out for the sign. It is near the weeping and photogenic
Hakea lorea.
The row of
Eucalyptus salubris is always worth a stop as the glorious colours of
the bark are ever changing with the light – many folk say the trunks feel like a
horse’s neck!
Acacias are in
late bloom this year, so many varieties can be seen from the Acacia Walk.
Take a brochure from the log box and follow along.
Behind the Bendee
picnic table the baby grass trees shiver in the slightest breeze. Look for the
Eucalyptus youngiana which may still be in flower. Here also the
Hakea subsulcata with its pink pom poms is a drawcard for the bees –
watch out for them too. Other hakeas to search for nearby are
H
francisiana and H coriacea.
Banksia ashbyi
with the last of its orange winter candles is worth a close up photo. And
Eucalyptus grossa with its chunky buds, thick leaves and branch
distortions is another favourite. Flowers are a greeny colour.
At The Western
Walk
look for Grevilleas triloba, insignis, paradoxa, crithmifolia and
tetragonoloba in flower. Hakea bucculenta has pretty
pink flowers. Do stop and park at the bus turnaround and walk around to get the
best value here.
Along the road
edge are the wondrous ground banksias with vigorous flower spikes. So soft and
furry like golden velvet. These are Banksia blechnifolia. Further
along the road are the Babingtonia (once Baeckia) with the
delicate arches of tiny white flowers. They are stunning.
With all the
grevilleas in flower, this has become a favourite place for many birds. Look out
for and listen also. If you are interested in birds, there is a list of birds
observed in the garden available from the gallery.
The Gordon
grevilleas have their own special place in the garden, with new plantings
of Robyn and Sandra Gordon. Check the signage for the parents and try to find
these plants. The old Robyn Gordon is fenced as protection from wallabies and
kangaroos.
Gumnut Walk
has a selection of eucalypts with many different shaped buds and seed capsules.
The mature shape of eucalypt canopies varies widely – look around at the various
tree shapes you can see here. The barks are very different too.
Senna artemisiodes,
previously the Silver cassia, can be seen in may places around the garden. With
its silver leaves and cape of gold, it looks like a wattle from a distance, but
has yellow cup shaped flowers.
At Honey Eater
Walk the Grevilleas to look for are the round bushes of Grevillea
thelemanniana, and G kennedyana with its grey leaves, and
beautiful red flowers. Back behind these is the spiky Dryandra arborea
.
If you have time,
walk along the short tracks with a brochure from the log box to find some of our
hidden treasures and mention them to others.
We hope you enjoy
our garden
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