OZ NATIVES - CONTINUING THE DISCOVERY

A  CHANGING LANDSCAPE

Departing a 2 acres garden developed over a twenty  year period, comprising abundant water,good soil and energy by the creators, a move to a suburban block consisting of poor soil, limited water supply and vast quantities of shale necessitated a lot of thought. 

Come with us on a view of some of the intriguing, beautiful plants we have nurtured to grow in our garden.

Ground cover plant - Eremophila glabra - 'Kalbarra Carpet" .

A closer look at the flowers and foliage of Kalbarra Carpet.

A closer look at the inner flower

Eremophila maculata   (Red Fire)

                            

Eremophila maculata aurea, this is an enlarged
view of the flowers on the plant to the right.

Eremophila maculata aurea
This plant has not been in the garden for very long around
five months, but is doing well under not the ideal situation,
a little too much shade for winter, however the summer
sun will shine brilliantly throughout the day. Grows to
1-2 metres.

Eremophila adenotricha
This plant has stunning foliage (not
easy to photograph).

                                                    

Eremophila maculata   (Magic Blush)
This plant is rather different in that the information provided
states it will grow in clay soils.  The foliage has a lovely
bluish, pinkish hue, a feature of the winter cooler air.
Note the spotted white throat, something you need to investigate
when on the bush as the flowers hang vertically.

                                   

      

    

  

A summary of the plants above in generally demand a well drained, friable soil. The plants,once established, which means watering regularly for six to twelve months depending on the weather conditions, need little care except for a trim or two.  These plants are also called Emu bush, mainly because the Emu eats the seeds, consequently enabling their survival. Varieties are very extensive, some 214 species, at present the tubular variety is flowering in the cooler months While the flower shape is similar the foliage and structure of the plants vary greatly.

Grevillea decora

The flower of Grevillea decore 

Grevillea preisii (Spider Net Grrevillea)

A number of Grevilleas have been planted in areas in the garden. The Decora featured at the top of this segment has been flowering since March and seems ti be happy to continue the stunning show. The leaves grey green with brown highlights show the red to slight burgundy flowers to perfection. This plant comes from the Burra Ranges, Barcaldine. This specimen growing here is grafted, one we bought on the Field Nats. away trip to Warwick, a wonderful find, thanks to Annette. The Spider Net was also purchased at the same nursery, has a very compact rounded growing habit with the arching flower heads, both very valued inclusions to our landscape.
 

Calothamnus quadrifidus  -  grey form. -  growing on a bank in the garden, young plant so this is the first flowering as
most plants in the garden. This plant flowers on the older branches and has delightfully soft fine foliage.

Ptilotus exaltatus 

A closer look at the feather flower of the
Ptilotus exaltatus.

Ptilotus exaltatus (Joey) is growing in numerous beds especially around the pool area.  This plant is treated as an annual, some of the plants survive a second year but mainly a yearly replant is how I see them.  They seed prolifically, the seed a re picked stamped into the ground and a percentage germinate.  This plant was featured on the news after the rain drenched the west, I believe around the Winton area, paddocks of them, What a sight it would have been !

Our native plants can certainly provide surprises, food for birds and an enhancement of our environment, as lang as you make the effort to give them their needs our gardens could look more Ozzie. Thanks to the people at Kings Park and I am sure other places there will be more for us to discover in the future. 

Post. Lionel and Jeanette Muir -  The photos were taken by Lionel .

Volunteers rescue reveg on Gympie River Walk

On the first Saturday in July, the Friends of the Mary, “Wandering Weeders”, led by Graham, re-started our weeding group along the River Walk in Gympie. A small group of five weeders were keen to get down to the river and see how all the plantings were faring. Graham was pleased to report that the Gympie Landcare workers have been doing a good job, brushcutting around the established trees, so he decided we should focus on the area just below the approach to Kidd Bridge.  

Here we found the usual suspects - Coral Berry, Chinese Elm, Ochna, Brazilian Nightshade and our old enemy, Cat’s Claw Creeper. But the immediate threat to the small trees was the Balloon Vine, which was running along the ground in a tangled mass, and completely covering some trees. It was flowering and already producing the characteristic balloons, some already ripe and dropping the round black seeds.

No party balloons here!

After a couple of hours, when  we had cleared around Figs, Palms, Casuarinas, Tuckeroos and stripped the Cat’s Claw from tree trunks, we were pleased with our work.

Lionel frees Palm tree

     

Jenny and Graham end an Elm

 

On the path back John pointed out a fine Balloon vine, in full fruit and flower. We attacked like terriers, it shall be no more!

Before the Wandering Weeders attacked.

Imagine how much could get done, if we had a bit more help. It is a very pleasant place to work, right beside our Mary River, so please come along. We meet at the  Albert Park Touch Footy pavilion, at 8.30 in Winter, on the first Saturday of the month.

Text and Photos contributed by Rahima.