Autumnal Orchids

Eriochilus meadow with waratah in middle distance and radiatas beyond

 part of the Eriochilus meadow

Pterostylis spp. aff. parviflora (large red-brown)

I was walking Billy the dog around Blackheath and came across this lovely orchid meadow under a stand of old radiatas and cypress. The radiatas are spaced far enough apart for light to get in and for a sparse ground cover to grow including a collection of native grasses and many other small growing natives. The area is mowed periodically and this year has favoured the orchids. The Eriochilus first caught my eye and then on closer inspection I found two species of Greenhood (Pterostylis) orchids and the long green leaves of what might be Caliochilus.

Pterostylis coccina coming up through a small Poa sp. along with the leaves of another orchid to the front.

P. coccina taken with a flower lens

The identification of the Eriochilus depends somewhat on the leaf being hairy or not and I don’t now have that information but I am fairly confident that it is Eriochilus autumnalis.

Eriochilus autumnalis (Parson’s Bands)

 

Daisy Identification and working on colour combinations

I have left the native grasses (an Austrostipa species that I have tentatively identified as A. nitida and Microlaena stipoides) volunteering in one section of the garden and added other natives. Willow herb is volunteering as is a daisy like flower I was hoping might be one of the native Podolepis sp.but on closer inspection it is the introduced Smooth Hawksbeard (Crepis capillaris). There are always a few flatweed (Hypochoeris radicata) plants volunteering too. The hawksbeard is increasing in numbers and is easy to pull up so we will begin to remove it.

Crepis capillaris flowering with Pelargonium rodneyanum and Epilobium sp.

Crepis capillaris and Hypochoeris radicata

We do encourage some self seeding flowers that stray no further afield. The orange Californian poppy has been  very useful in this regard and the pink and purple Linaria purpurea introduced by an iris expert are also starting to reproduce. We have introduced a pale yellow Californian poppy and we have scattered seed from a red Californian poppy in the hope that we might introduce a few more colours to the mix. Our soil is still not good enough for a great success rate with scattered seed but once established I think they will manage their own reseeding. The red Californian poppy is part of a plan to add more reds to compliment some preexisting berberis. We have cut the berberis back into mounds and planted a red striped and highly scented floribunda rose called “Scentimental”, scattered seed of the red Californian poppy and seed of Cosmos bipinnatus “Velouette”. Only a few seeds have germinated but Tom took a photo of our first striped cosmos on Friday with the rose in the background. The photo of the rose has the berberis in the background and the original orange self seeding Californian poppy.

Cosmos bipinnatus “Velouette” photo by Tom Kennedy

Scentimental and berberis

Other red flowers in the gardens near by at the moment are a red bergamot I am keen to establish more thoroughly and the old red floribunda rose.

Bergamot and perennial sweet pea

Floribunda rose and oak leaf hydrangeas

Spring continues

Pandorea pandorana “Ruby Belle”

Pandorea pandorana

We are slowly moving towards the warmer weather and despite experiencing a few frosts last week the spring flowers are continuing to appear. Besides the waratahs photographed for the last post we have three other native plants looking lovely. We have two different varieties of Pandorea pandorana. The white one is a selection very close to the species, although the throat in the ones I have seen in the bush is a little more purple. The second is a reddish variety most likely “Ruby Belle”.

Dendrobium kingianum

We are trying to increase the orchids both native and introduced. Our Dendrobium speciosum is not doing well but a Dendrobium kingianum planted in an old banksia stump is flowering well. There are cymbidiums planted into the ground in nearby gardens so I am trialing them too. More generally in the garden we have Moraea collina flowering.

Moraea collina

It is an unusual flower in the local gardens because we are continually asked it’s name. It is a native of South Africa and known as the Cape tulip. I suspect it has been in this garden for a long time surviving through periods of attention and neglect. I found the echium seedling volunteering in the Margaret Steven’s garden a few years ago so it is in it’s prime now. The thujas were planted when the garden was begun in 1966 and are now a little taller than I would like them as they add to the shade already cast by the 2 storey building.

Echium candicans and Thuja occidentalis “fastigiata”

Viburnum plicatum tormentosum “Double File”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The viburnum is in it’s 3rd year and the first year in which it seems to have established. We are trying to improve the bluebell area by various means including removing some tree cover and planting shrubs. This is the first year we have had a few flowers on the viburnum and though few none-the-less lovely.

 

Waratahs at Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens

The oldest Shady Lady  waratah in the Waldorf patch

We have a small patch of waratahs at Waldorf and when they where looking their best we decided to visit Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens and check out the waratah collection there. Mt Tomah is on the Bells line of road which runs across the Blue Mountains from Richmond to Lithgow on the northern side of the Grose Valley. We drove from Leura along the GWH to Mt Victoria and crossed over to the Bells line via the Darling causeway and then headed back east to reach Mt Tomah. We were greeted at the entry by a very substantial “Shady Lady” waratah and came across some giants further down the slope.

 

Mt Tomah entrance Shady Lady

Waratahs further down the slope

 

 

 

 

 

We were advised to visit the Heath and Heather section as there has been much work put in there  recently. On the way we came across a row of white waratahs and and an unlabelled red waratah with a spectacular flower.

White waratahs

Waratah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way back past the Burnet garden and found a satin bowerbird in his bower. We took a long range photo of bird and bower and as the bower was just over a low hedge beside the path we could take a close look at both the bower itself and it’s decorations as the bird hopped a short distance away.

Satin bowerbird

Looking down into the bower with decorations in front

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our final waratah sighting was of the state emblem of NSW clipped into a lawn. In hindsight I wonder if maybe a dwarfing agent has been used. I am still puzzling about it.

Lawn waratah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Canberra swimming pool to secret garden

The swimming pool in Fiona’s Canberra garden was no longer in use with children grown up and away from home so Fiona decided to repurpose the area as a sunken native garden, using many plants endemic to the Canberra region.

The pool in use in 2006

The vinyl lining gone and the project begun 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completed garden awaiting an umbrella and a garden setting 2016

Fiona reused much of the concrete from the pool sides to create her new terraces and steps and created a half gabion effect in her retaining walls, using mesh as the cage and existing concrete and pebbles for the fill. Netting holds the pebbles in place behind the weldmesh. The posts from the old pool were still in good shape so Fiona left them in place and retained the capping for stability around the curves.

 

 

 

 

 

Wall detail with Callistemon sieberi and Veronica perfoliata

The  soil in this patch of Canberra is  alkaline, helped along by all the concrete. Fiona only had subsoil clay to work with so  mixed it with coarse sand and compost to form the garden beds. The Canberra region has a range of soil types so not all endemics will grow. Fiona tries to select plants she hopes will cope but removes them after a couple of special treatments if they don’t establish.

 

 

The rockery over a vulnerable sewerage line with non damaging  hybrid Brachyscome angustifolia, and the endemics Bulbine glauca, Viola hederacea and Scleranthus biflorus

The stairs and path composed of old clay fill dug from the pool site, it’s a good colour and very alkaline so weed resistant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bog garden

The bottom of the garden becomes boggy in wet weather and Fiona has planted in some bog plants, seriously restricted on account of the sewerage lines. The bog circle contains Lythrum salicaria, Isolepsis nodosa, Baloskion tetraphyllum and a Juncus sp.

 

 

Scleranthus biflorus flanked by Kunzea ericoides “Snowman” with Chrysocephalum apiculatum and Acacia dawsonii all endemic in some form

Eremophila nivea “Blue velvet” a grafted Eremophila hit hard by frosts but recovered after hard pruning.  Acacia boormanii behind

We found native bees visiting the grey Eremophila. We think they are blue banded bees from the Amegilla genus. The Scleranthus is known as Canberra grass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the bluebells of Canberra Wahlenbergia communis

The floral emblem for Canberra is the bluebell Walhenbergia gloriosa. Fiona has a few species growing, the one I photographed volunteers between the pavers above the secret garden.

 

 

 

 

Fiona in her secret garden

Pittwater Holiday

Currawong Beach Cottages are part of the paradise that is Pittwater NSW.

Currawong Beach
(photo by Gwen)

 

It is beautiful at any time of year and a week spent there in summer is fantastic. The beach is accessible only by water and is serviced by a ferry. It sits below West Head and Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. A walk up onto the headland puts you among coastal sandstone flora.

Pittwater viewed through Angophora costata

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both the flannel flowers are out at this time of year.

Actinotus minor

Actinotus helianthi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sandstone flora of the Upper mountains and Pittwater do have a great deal in common but there are some species that differ. The grey spider flower is not found in the Upper Mountains. I think the small flowering tree is Synoum gladulosum, I didn’t take quite the right photos for full identification. The Australian native sundew is Drosera spatulata.

Synoum gladulosum

Grevillia buxifolia

Drosera spatulata

Sea wrack leaves and angophora leaf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sea wrack Halophia sp.  is a beautiful intertidal/subtidal seagrass. The leaves are transparent green and pink. It is always floating on the surface of the water and can be seen growing in the sand. There are three similar looking species of Halophila in Pittwater and a number of other seagrasses making up sea meadows. Sea meadows are considered a pivotal marine habitat.

Warringine Park

With BHP Steel and Esso on the horizon and tankers out to sea Warringine Park boardwalk stretches around a section of Western Port on the Mornington Peninsular from Hastings to Bittern. We walked from Hastings to the viewing platform and returned.

Warringine wetland viewing platform

The wetland attracts many migratory birds including a curlew overwintering from Siberia. 176 different bird species have been sighted in the park. The boardwalk has been recently rebuilt after a fire in January 2015.  The walk begins on a raised track and then continues on a boardwalk.

Warringine track

Warringine track plant community

 

 

 

 

 

The shrubs regenerating were Leptospermum and Allocasuarina and the trackside community included Austrodanthonia sp. and a little pigface, possibly Disphyma crassifolium.

Warringine wetland pool

Warringine wetland pool from boardwalk

 

 

 

 

 

The dominate greenery around the pool here is Samphire I think;  Sarcocornia quinqueflora.