Back to the bulbs

Good rains (200mm) over past few weeks have brought the bushland back to life - and brought up the bulbs as well.

I read recently in a scholarly article by Bill Scott and Alan Hill that Perth's rainfall patterns have long cycles, and that the dry period we have recently experienced is a normal part of Perth's climate - not necessarily a reflection of Climate Change. I guess our bushlands are adapted to this kind of dry spell - I just hope they are resilient enough to survive them...

John and I focused on Freesia and Lachenalia along the fire access track along the western boundary of the bushland.

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Yet more dumping

Yes, it is hard to believe ... or maybe not. John and I came across some rubble dumped just near where the branches were ... no idea how long it has been there, or where it came from.

Now that the rain has come the bushland is looking green again, and much healthier. But, there are some worrying patches of dead trees and shrubs.

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Still more dumping!

Vicki and I were setting out stakes in 'The Barrens' for planting out next year ... this photo shows an area planted about 15 years ago along Lemnos St. The Grevillea seems to survive quite well, but not regenerating. The Acacia saligna and Jacksonia furcellata don't live long, but there are some new plants coming up.

We came across fresh tyre marks and more dumped palm fronds - followed the tyre tracks back to the Health Department area ...

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More dumps

Eagle-eyed John found this pile of dumped woodchips and shavings just inside the wall - possibly from the same contractor who dumped cuttings further into the bushland.

While we are waiting for winter weeds to emerge we toured the bushland looking for Flinders Ranges Wattles flowering. Also removed fallen trees and branches from the path following last friday's storm.

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Dumping ground for the school?

A few weeks ago Shenton College had contractors removing dead acacia and banksia plants from the bushland area on the corner of Lemnos and Selby st.

In the bushland on Sunday I came across some piles of cuttings of acacia and banksia ... hmmm ... has someone decided to cut costs and dump the cuttings in the bushland???

I also distributed smoked seeds we had collected form Dryandra sessilis and Xanthorrhoea in the regeneration site on the barrens.

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Looking for Jarrahs

While removing veldgrass on top of the ridge I couldn't help noticing the lack of Jarrah coming up to replace the mature trees - this is not a good sign for the future. There are lots of banksia and casuarina, but very few jarrah to be found.
I went off in search of Jarrah seeds to spread around the bushland - very few trees had seeds on them - possibly due to timing, possibly due to the hailstorm last march which had a massive impact on the bushland.
I did find a few trees near Lemnos St where the storm was not as severe - and there were some seed pods close to the ground - so I have collected them and will smoke them to distribute next weekend (hopefully we will have rain soon).

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Planting in 'The Barrens'

At our latest committee meeting we decided to begin distributing seeds in areas of 'the barrens' - in particular a spot with lots of asbestos - to keep people out and to provide food and habitat for Carnaby's (and other birds).

We have pegged out a spot (where there was lots of asbestos visible), and have collected seed which we will soak in smoked water to help with germination. Will distribute as soon as rain appears on the horizon.

Click here to view live map Click here to download the GPX data for this map. Note, this data is an XML file - change the name to .GPX to upload to your GPS.