The Flinders in Kadina

Several of us visited Jan and her garden in April.  We planned to help her set up a couple of new beds, but spent most of our time just admiring her garden which was full of plants from the Flinders where she grew up.

      

This Ptilotis exultatus looked exultant.  And the ruby saltbush was also thriving.

      

Check out the varied colours of Senna artemisioides ssp sturtii.  And the purple of this brachyscome.
Several species of Goodenia grow in the Flinders. Not sure about this one. Jan’s using it as a ground cover under a large gum keeping company with an Ajuga australis.

    

So many Flinders plants thrive in our Yorke Peninsula and it was a real treat to see Jan’s favourites.

 

Do you have any Flinders species in your garden?

I’m keen to include a Spyridium parvifolium, but so far with no success. Any suggestions?

More Australian floral delights in Kadina

Many plants besides the eremophilas were flourishing at Sandy's and Tim's garden.

 




Goodenia (ovata?) made a bright groundcover. Goodenias are attractive plants to butterflies and caterpillars adding to the beauty and diversity of the garden.

Australian floral delight in Kadina

When we were wandering through Sandy's and Tim's garden last week we were delighted to see the range of Aussie plants that were thriving. 
We'd had a much needed 50mm rain the previous week, so everything was looking refreshed. Eremophilas tend to flower when it rains so there was a great display from new little plants such as E. muelleriana and E. macdonnellii.....

.......to metre high shrubs like E. glabra and one of my favourites, E. cunefolia .........

 

..... through to the long established tall shrubs, E.miniata and E.alternifolia.

 I'm not certain of the names of these plants, so please correct any I've got wrong.

Shall continue with Sandy's and Tim's garden in the next blog

Pine Point in Bloom in September

The COOTS (Conservation of Our Threatened Species) group should feel very pleased with their efforts over the years when they look over the reserve at Pine Point. 

The Acacia rhetinocarpa that they've focussed on are in full bloom and look very healthy. 

When you look closely at the blooms you can see they are lovely big globules of yellow made all the more startling because the plant has small leaves.

A.rhetinocarpa is an endangered plant endemic to SA so it needs our TLC in many settings. It's good to know that other people are also growing the shrub across Yorke Peninsula which helps with its conservation.




Several plants that are rare and more difficult to propagate were flowering including Olearia pannosa and Kennedia prostrata. 

A few of these plants are growing in reserves and roadside corridors but haven't worked their way into this bigger reserve so it's good the COOTS people have propagated and planted them.

Our Aust Plants Society NYP group's logo, the Pittosporum angustifolia (native apricot) has worked it's way from the roadside onto the site.
 




Can you find one of the locals that was scuttling along near the native apricot?

I've recently discovered if you click on the photo it will enlarge, and enable you to look at all the pics. You may see it better that way. 


The real show stopper in September was the Lasiopetalum genus.  I think I saw three species flowering magnificently and within a few metres of each other.  I've never seen them this healthy looking or this prolific.


Here is the challenge for the COOTS group, and all of us really - to turn the wild oats  and onion weed community in the especially rocky section at the top of the site into something like it was prior to white settlement.

Flowering Garden in September near Wallaroo

What an amazing garden that Coral and Rick have created. It was delightful checking out the hundreds of Aussie bushes and trees, and watching the various birds and insects flitting about. No joe blakes crossed our paths which was a relief.







So many plants were in flower and I've featured some of the wide collection of eremophilas in this post. I'm not confident to give any of their names.  Help is needed!!!!

My favourites are ones that have two displays because the colourful bracts at the base of the flowers remain when the flowers are finished.  Is there a technical term for this?  

Then there are the numerous eremophilas that have spotted flowers. Are they all E.maculata?



























Some of the bushes were covered in a profusion of dainty little blooms........
















 .......and others had equally dainty blooms, just few of them.


And have you noticed the foliage on the shrubs?  This one would make you think it's a eucalypt. 








Hang on ....this is a eucalypt.


There was an abundance of plants blooming around the garden. Hope you like this selection as much as I do.

C and R. you have created a marvel.  Thanks for letting us share in it.

Flowering in August at Rocky Bend

A team of enthusiasts visited Rocky Bend south of Moonta to check out what was flowering on the reserve. What an enchanting time we had. At least 25 species ranging from tiny herbaceous plants to spreading mallees and trees, including the leafless cherry, were in flower .

The most common flowering plant was Cryptandra amara with the small shrubs making a lovely display.









The Lasiopetalum baueri - slender velvet bushes - were the most vigorous I've seen in the bush. The bush sometimes look straggly and dull, and the beautiful flowers hang down, hiding their beauty.

I'd not noticed Dodonaea hexandra defore - horned hop-bush - it being a small twiggy shrub reaching about 0.5m. The plant was no longer in flower, what we were seeing were the brightly coloured fruit capsules. There were only a few of the plants bearing the fruit and I'll be keeping an eye out for them in future.













The orchids, lily and sundew families were exciting to find.  Diuris - donkey orchid - were flowering, sometimes in groups and sometimes singly. This photo (and the  Lasiopetalum) was taken by David as you can see by the brilliant quality.







And who is this tiny butterfly / moth so well camouflaged among the lichen and pebbles?



Being a roadside reserve, there were possibly 25 species of weeds were flowering as well as all the delightful Aussie plants.  Some of us spent a bit of time pulling out weeds. Maybe we should get out there in a systematic way, while accepting that it will be a constant battle.

Billy Buttons surrounded

There's really been some development around Sandra's Pycnosurus globulosus - billy buttons  - in her garden in Kadina. 
The photo  on the left was taken in January.
It is now surrounded by everlastings - Bracteantha sp -the everlastings just love the gravel mulch.



The picture reminds me of a delightful scene in the Bogong High Plains. The paper daisies there were yellow with orange centre, similar to, or the same species as the ones in Sandra's garden.   It's marvellous that such a scene can be reproduced in limestoney, hot Yorke Peninsula