Last spring I took my two boys, J (10) and L (5) camping to an area south of Margaret River. It's a camping spot that you can only get to via 4WD during the drier months and is even less accessible during winter. Fortunately my '75 Kombi van had enough clearance to pick its way through the rocky outcrops and we made it in.

This camping spot is very isolated and not many people know about it so needless to say you very rarely have to share it with anyone. Alas, this weekend a 4WD club had decided to use it as a weekend vantage point and while they were noisy during the evenings they were out all day 4WDing.

We weren't as mobile, although we had taken our bikes, and it gave us a great chance to explore the forest and see some of the wonderful wildflowers that were erupting en masse through the undergrowth. Wildflowers such as donkey and spider orchids, acacia, and hardenbergia littered the forest floor and were amazing to find.

Here are some of the pictures (please forgive the lack of short depth of field on this tinny little digital camera).

Donkey Orchids

Commonly known as 'Egg & Bacon Plant"

A low growing acacia

An unknown climber - perhaps some sort of clematis

Grass trees - we once called these 'Black Boys' but that's politically incorrect now.

Spider Orchids

Hardenbergia

A garden aspect

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Every spring thousands of tourists make the pilgrimage to the Australian outback to view the most incredible wildflower display on view. What makes it even more amazing is the fact that no human hand has tendered or cultivated this flower show. The wildflowers just continue to propagate themselves from their own seeds.

This is one of the marvels of growing wildflowers from seed. Many varieties are self-seeding annuals. They grow, flower, produce seed and then release that seed so that it can germinate the following year into another dazzling display.

Many gardeners are beginning to grow wildflowers because they require less maintenance and produce as, if not more, amazing displays of colour. The European style of garden with the rolling lawns and manicured hedges is not appropriate to most of our living regions so wildflowers become a perfect alternative.

While wildflowers may be easy to maintain, they're certainly not the easiest to germinate from seed. They are fairly selective in waiting for perfect conditions to grow and may take some time, and probably a little frustration, trying to successfully cultivate these plants.

Continue reading "Time to plant some native wildflower seed" »

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