Whistlers Rest

I am sure you will recognise many of these. None of them are native but certainly are very common and widespread. Black Medic Dandelion Quaking Grass Lambs Tongue (Plantago) Red Flowered Mallow Blackberry Nightshade Purpletop I am sure there is the odd thistle of two about too.  None of these seems to be taking over and frankly I don't have time to be weeding out every non-native so I will pretty much leave them alone and just pull them out if I notice them as I pass by. By the way I think the plant I showed the other day with Kidney Weed is Pennywort also very similar to hydrocotyle. But the confusing thing is that both of these plants like water and damp places and our block doesn't fit the description. One is native the other it introduced.

You might remember the St John's Wort from last year. Well they're back and I've been diligently pulling them out. It's a big job because there are oodles of them but not as many in the areas I cleared last year. Last year I hoped beyond hope that these were the native Hypericum  but in the end admitted to defeat ... these were the noxious weed. Well this year, while pulling them up I noticed this yellow flower and wondered hard about it.  It looked similar but different.  Smaller. Was it an immature version? I inspected closely and the leaves also seemed a little different. Well it turns out these are the Australian native version, called Little St John's Wort.  How nice is that.  One the benefits of pulling out all the weeds is I get a chance to look at the ground a lot and spot things I would otherwise miss.

I have not been having any success with birds recently.  The little ones that were around in such abundance a few weeks ago seem to have moved on. Though there are plenty bird calls coming from the tree canopy. Here are the ones I have noticed recently Galahs Crimson rosellas Crested pigeons Wattlebirds Fan tailed cuckoo (I have not seen this bird but identified it from the Birds in Backyards top 40 birdsongs.  Now I know what I am looking for I might see it one day).

In addition to the vines that are clambering on the ground there are these that are climbing up the trees and shrubs. Apple Berry Dunno, looks like some sort of dodder to me Another hovea I think but a different variety to the one shown before the flowers have a different pattern The passionfruit vine in the old garden Of course the nasty old blackberry is also making a comeback. I don't want to even think about that.

I thought you might be interested in a the story of a plant that has been baffling me for ages.  This plant below is crawling all over the block.  I have been wondering for a year whether it is a weed or native but decided on balance that it looks so at home wandering among the grass tufts that it must be a native but what is it? I think to myself perhaps it is some sort of Pelagonium I will wait until it flowers. So it has flowered ... see below. Well it doesn't look like it is one of those but what is it?  I still don't know.  It put me in mind of a Gardening Australia episode where they were talking to the people out at Mt Annan about their Cumberland Woodland plot.  I have been finding their images quite helpful in identifying my plants (but no help on this occasion).  They said in this episode. "Some people look at Cumberland Plain Woodland and think it's just sparse, unsightly scrub - but there's really much more to it than meets the eye; it...

I've got more flowers to show you but for a change of pace, here's our mountain in the moonlight photographed this weekend.  It's the best I could do, I don't really know how to do night shots.

The blue bells are popping up all over the place now, the pink ones are one of these little surprises to discover when looking closely at the ground.

More yellow flowers found in the grass - Yellow star grass, goodenia, helichrysum (a tiny version of everlasting daisies)

Ooo I am so excited to see these donkey orchids flower again. This takes us on the full cycle of the floral year but we are not done yet I am still finding more flowers.

And the rice flower has bloomed.

I am fairly sure this one is a Lomandra.   Update, here is a better shot taken this weekend.  I think we had stepped on the one above.

The flower parade continues.  I am so excited to find so many different types of flowers on our acre. I spotted this one in the grass.  It has different leaves from the other purple peas, I think it might be a Swainsona.

Here's one, a little willie wagtail who isn't wagging his tail right now.