Go Native

The term ‘cottage garden’ usually conjures up images of the classic ‘English’ cottage garden - Hollyhocks, Larkspur, Delphiniums, Phlox, Daffodils, etc, and His big joke on mankind, the Rose.

Aussie natives in a 'cottage' style garden

With a little planning, it is not difficult to achieve the informality and colour of the traditional cottage garden using entirely, (or partly if preferred), Australian natives.

Running Postman - Kennedia prostrata

Running Postman - a twining ground cover with red and yellow pea-flowers

Many Australian native plants are drought tolerant and can cope with our hot summer temperatures and they attract beneficial insects, birds and other wildlife.

Nodding Blue Lily, Stypandra glauca - a graceful grass-lily, very hardy.

Gully Grevilea, Grevillea barklyana - West Gippsland's own grevillea

Once established, Australian natives generally require less watering than exotics and limited fertilizing with a low-phosphorous fertilizer and some tip pruning.

Austral Indigo, Indigofera australis - a soft-foliaged purple pea-flowered shrub

Common Appleberry, Billarderia scandens - a light climber with delicate pale green bell-shaped flowers

Small trees, shrubs, ground covers, wildflowers, bulbs, orchids, climbers, aquatics and grasses are all available as native species for constructing an attractive, climate coping, wildlife-attracting cottage garden.

Heath var, Epacris sp - many varieties available of this long-flowering shrub

Give it a try – go native!

Birds at Thornell's Reserve

It is a singular delight to have a remnant bush block like Thornell’s Reserve on our Drouin doorstep. Situated between the Tarago River at Picnic Point and the Princes Freeway, the reserve is like a little oasis for wildlife in the middle of desert (farmland). A large suite of bird species is complemented with wallabies, echidnas, skinks, possums and gliders and no doubt much more (snakes, bats, invertebrates…?). 

Recent birdlife at Thornell’s Reserve has included the following …

Brown-headed Honeyeater (my personal 101st Drouin bird incidentally)

Eastern Yellow Robin - always a delight

Female Golden Whistler in mid-serenade

Red-browed Finch with 'courtship grass' in the bill

White-browed Scrubwren - ever present

White-naped Honeyeater - a diagnostic angle (ha!)

Thornell’s Reserve, and places like it, are not just havens of habitat for wildlife that is under increasing pressure due to land clearing and urbanization, they also contribute to the conservation of biodiversity; ameliorate dryland salinity by helping to lower the water table; minimize soil erosion by reducing surface run-off; help pest control by offering habitat to fauna species that prey on pasture, tree and crop pests; provide economic value through recreation, tourism, education and amenity; act as carbon sinks and producers of clean air by absorbing atmospheric pollutants.

Healthy patches of remnant bushland such as Thornell’s Reserve require all the protection we can give them.

Happy National Wattle Day

Did you know September 1^st was National Wattle Day?

Depending on the reference used, there are as many as 900 – 1000 species of wattle, the Acacia genus, even larger and more diverse than the eucalypts.

Gold Dust Wattle,  A.acinacia, a knee-high shrub that grows well in poor conditions.

The diversity of Australia’s wattle species is no better reflected than in our corner of the continent. Right now, many of our roadsides and bush patches are being lit up with bursts of brilliant yellow. Many of our Gippsland wattles will begin flowering through Winter, brightening the dreariest time of year.

 A.paradoxa, Kangaroo Thorn, Hedge Wattle or more realistically, ‘Bugger Bush’ – check out those spikes!

Wattles grow all over Australia. There are species of Acacia adapted to arid inland, wet rainforest and harsh coastal conditions. There are prostrate/ground-cover wattles, shrub varieties and tall trees – a wattle for everyone.

Spike Wattle, A.oxycedrus, cylindrical-shaped flowerheads.

All wattles are legumes. Like all the pea family, clover, beans, lentils, carob, peanuts and more, the roots of Acacias have nodules that contain Nitrogen ‘fixing’ bacteria that enables the plant to obtain Nitrogen directly from the air in the soil. As parts of the legume/wattle decomposes, the Nitrogen within it becomes available to other plants.

Sweet Wattle, A.suaveolens, a non-yellow wattle.

In 1988, the Golden Wattle, A.pycnantha was proclaimed the floral emblem of Australia and in 1992, September 1^st was declared National Wattle Day.

Golden Wattle, A.pycnantha, Australia’s floral emblem.

Happy Wattle Day to all readers.