West-Australian Wildflowers.

As promised, today I bring you an insight into the diverse and beautiful flora indigenous to the state of Western Australia. I'm in Perth, the capital of Western Australia and one of the world most isolated capital cities. The state covers an area that is roughly the same size as Spain, France and Germany combined! Known as one of the oldest land masses on Earth, the state is rich in minerals and is a great source of mining wealth (for a few very rich individuals...but lets not go there...); more importantly, it is rich in unique flora, many species of which are found nowhere else in the world.


When the rains of June and July soak the dusty, parched earth.....the rich red soils explode into a riot of vivid colours as wildflowers carpet the landscape lasting for up to 5 months through to December.

    
While there are many tour operators that offer the chance to see these rare beauties in their natural state, you can get a glimpse of these delicate blooms in the magnificent King's Park and Botanic Gardens in Perth.


Perched high above the city of Perth with views over the city and the Swan River, King's Park is an area of 400 hectares which showcases the spectacular flora of Western Australia. The area, located on Mount Eliza, was first gazetted a national park in October 1st 1872.

                                               































The colour and variety of wildflowers defies the imagination, there are between eight and twelve thousand varieties of wildflower in Western Australia and some 319 species are showcased in the park.

Perhaps one of the most unique specimens in the park, and one of my favourites is the Adansonia gregorii, more commonly known as the 'Boab' or 'Bottle Tree'. This is the only Boab tree endemic to Australia, although other baobabs are found in South Africa, Madagascar and the Arabian Peninsular.......interesting links to continental drift!

Easily recognised by it's swollen base which gives the tree a 'bottle-like' shape, this tree is indigenous to the Kimberly region of Western Australia. The tree can grow to between 9-12 meters with a trunk diameter of 5m.

The tree pictures above was moved due to a road widening project; it travelled the 3200km on the back of a truck, from the Kimberly's to King's Park, it's new home. 

The tree played a significant role in the traditions of the local Gija people of the Kimberly's who have now passes it on to the Nyoongar people, the traditional owners of the King's Park area.

Adansonia gregorii can live up to 200 years!

So if you ever find yourself in Perth, take a walk up the winding paths and steps to the summit of Mount Eliza and marvel in the breath-taking views over the city and the Swan River. Take a walk amongst the wildflowers and strange trees that make up a small part of a unique and beautiful part or the world........and get grounded!

A BIG grounded GARDENS thank you!

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who have been having a peek at the grounded GARDENS bog!


In the past month my traffic audience has come from all over the world!!!  I've had visits from USA, Russia, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Gabon!!  That's amazing and I'm so excited to think that people around the world are interested.


I'll be posting a new blog soon from the beautiful city of Perth in Western Australia....one of the worlds most isolated capital cities! 


And please feel free to send me a message at groundedgardens@yahoo.com.au or post a comment on the blog. You can post a comment as anonymous, but if you have a yahoo account post as yourself...and it's easy to create a yahoo account! I'd love to hear from viewers around the world and any ideas for things you'd like to see in the blog.


So once again...Thank you!  tell your friends about the grounded Gardens blog


                                And enjoy the space you live in! 

Is this really autumn?

 Those of us lucky enough to live in Sydney have just experienced our 25th day of blue skies and sunshine. It's been 25 days since we last had rain. If you find yourself a nice spot to sit in the sun, out of the cool breeze, you could be forgiven for thinking that we were experiencing a late summer!!! 


But alas, it is autumn and winter is fast approaching. Deciduous trees are loosing their leaves and most plants are going into a dormant state of no growth. It's at this time of year that gardens can look a little bare and colourless. Most gardeners will choose some bright and colourful annuals to spruce up the garden, and it's at this time of year that pansies and violas pop up; massed together in a riot of colour in garden beds and pots.


But what about bringing some of that colour inside? I have the perfect plant:

                                            Cyclamen  sp.


Cyclamen are a genus of plants containing 20 species that belong to the Primulaceae family. In the wild they are native to parts of Europe, western Asia and North Africa.


Cyclamens are the ideal indoor winter-flowering plant. In areas that experience a cold winter but where temperatures remain above freezing they can be used as a bedding plant in the same way we use petunias in summer. There are many hybrids of the principal species Cyclamen persicum and they grow from a fleshy tuber.

       

    

Ranging in colour from the purest white through pale pink, mauve and reds, cyclamens will last the entire winter if given a little tender loving care. And little care it what they like; don't overwater your cyclamen or they will rot away.....instead lightly mist the plant every few days and water with a light fertiliser solution once every 2 weeks. 

One thing cyclamen don't like is heat....so if you do have the air-conditioning or gas heating on make sure you pop you plant outside on the porch or balcony at night. The cool night air will keep your plant looking fresh and upright.

The petals of the Cyclamen are known as 'reflexed petals' because of the way they whorl away from the centre....almost as though they are caught in a fierce wind. 

     
If you've managed to keep your Cyclamen alive through the winter ...well done! Most people tend to over or under water and they only last a month or so. Never-the-less they are worth the effort. And unless you have a dry, cool place to leave them through the summer it's best to say goodbye...and pop them in the compost!


So forget about a buying bunch of expensive cut flowers that will only last a week and make the water in your vase go green, smelly and slimy. Go out and get a couple of lovely Cyclamen and be creative in the way you display them: wrap the plastic pots in coconut fibre and place them in clear glass vessels, or get a large bowl and put 3 small plants together in their pots for a mass display; fill in between the pots with sphagnum moss or small coloured stones. Or maybe just a single, regal plant in a plain white pot! Cyclamen will bring a burst of summer colour to brighten your winter days.

The Nature of Design...and design in nature!

  Everywhere we look in nature we are greeted with a myriad of shapes, colours and images which inspire us all; from gardeners and chefs, to artists and designers.


While wandering through a roadside market in Mumbai, India I was struck by the natural beauty of the goods on display. It was not just the fruit and vegetables as items for sale, more the way they worked together to create an image or picture that would inspired the passer-bye to make a purchase, or just stop and look! This is visual merchandising at it's simplest!

As the old song says...."I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts".


Who would have thought that these stringy, strange looking drupes would have such visual appeal! This picture shows what is the mesocarp, or middle layers of the coconut and I love it's fibrous texture and blend of neutral colours. 

At the next stall a completely different image.                           
But once again a combination of colour and texture at has inspired artists and designers throughout the ages. 


The pineapple is an image that appears in 
paintings, fabric design and in home-wares....
Who doesn't love a pineapple-based table lamp?


Pineapples are actually the edible fruit of a Bromeliad, their botanical name is Ananas comosus
and it is not a single fruit, but a mass of coalesced berries, named for it's resemblance to a pine cone!


In the Philippines pineapple leaves are used to make a fabric called 'pina' and are also a component of wall-paper!


     Next, a bowl of dried chillies .....something to fire up the imagination!

And there we have it....colours, shapes and textures that appear in nature that inspire someone like me to stop...to smell, to touch and feel.......

     

So next time your wandering through the roadside market stalls of Mumbai,

.....or maybe it's the fruit and veg section of your local supermarket....

STOP    ...smell....touch....and feel....  and admire the incredible beauty of the simplest things we sometimes take for granted.


                         Nature;  the worlds greatest designer!