A Garden in Aestivation

I haven't posted much on the garden of late, simply because with the summer heat most of the life went in to aestivation (hibernation due to excessive heat as opposed to excessive cold). Now that winter has definitely set in, I probably should look back on the past few months. 

A spider constructing a cocoon or web from an old crunchy leaf under the eaves, away from the peril of hungry wattle birds. 

With the red capped gum in full flower, the lorikeets were showing themselves to be true gluttons. Climbing onto the pillar to get a better angle I had a family of them shouting abuse as they deemed me to have crossed into their territory.


After shouting a few choice phrases back, the braver ones decided the food was too good to give up and descended.

The bees make the most of another flowering gum with branches too fragile to support the greedy lorikeets.

Having coaxed it to flower for years, the golden shower put on a spectacular showing sending streams of sunshine down over the centre of the garden. 

One afternoon, Mya was spotted trying to climb into one of the spindly Christmas-decoration grevillias. It wasn't a plant she usually devoted her attention to (being the local drink spot of her tormentors: the wattle birds) but on this occasion she seemed to be showing it unwarranted attention.

That was until we wandered outside and saw this poor mouse clinging to the spindliest branches at the top of the shrub quacking with fear.

(unaware that we'd rescued it, Mya spent the afternoon in the vicinity trying to renew her acquaintance with this new friend.)

Another of the ground covering banksias. A not-so-small shrub, this native remains inconspicuous until autumn when it sends out these vibrant candles, each one edged in brilliant red.

Years ago, enduring the long drive from Esperance to Kalgoorlie to Perth, we stopped suddenly and unexpectedly. Mum had seen an unusual native that she wanted in her own garden. Having bought and killed (unintentionally) several, this one is thriving, if only to be used by the wattle birds to play peek-a-boo.

Several years ago the red Pincushion Hakea decided to give up the ghost. It had been a beautiful tree, dotted with flowers of white pins sticking out of bright red cushions. It has been replaced with a pink version, dotted with similar flowers if not quite so striking.

Slowly covering the garden, this native ground cover is a beauty to behold until such time as the weeds grow amongst it and make the process of weeding far more challenging.

The scottish thistle dryandra.

Autumn started with the appearance of the aptly named Autumn Crocus

After the first rains:

... and the weeds who say 'wacko', and cover every other inch of the garden.

With winter coming, a medley of bulbs were scattered throughout the garden. Already home to freesias and jonquils (erlicheer and paperwhites), and Ipheions, we added several others including these Sir Winston Churchill daffodils.