In Flower This Week

14 February 2003

Edging Banks Walk, kangaroo paw cultivar Anigozanthos ‘Bush Noon’ [Section 210] has a blend of lime green and orange flowers on long bare stems and, close by and snug between the rocks, Hibbertia vestita [Section 210] is a dense groundcover with prominent yellow flowers. On the lower side of this garden bed, Eucalyptus ‘Wildfire’ [Section 174] is still flaunting its bright red flower clusters over a small tree. The prostrate plant Scaevola ‘New Blue’ [Section 174] spreads its brilliant blue fan flowers opposite the waterfall while Solanum sturtianum [Section 174], in the crescent-shaped bed, mixes its bright purple flowers with the grey-green foliage.

However this walk is to view a colourful area in the Sydney Region Gully. Follow the Main Path, and just before you enter the area find Correa ‘Gladys Cumpston’ [Section 112], a low, wide shrub with pendent slim red flowers with greenish mouths and long green stamens. Taking the path on the far side of the gully, Crowea exalata [Section 191K] is a small shrub with pink star-like flowers. A tea-tree, Leptospermum petraeum [Section 191F], is an upright shrub with a sprinkling of open white flowers mixing with the upper foliage.

The small stream is concealed by the large fronds of Soft Tree Ferns, Dicksonia antarctica [Section 191], many scorched by the recent hot winds. Banksia spinulosa var. spinulosa [Section 191K], edging this path, has long fine foliage and many upright ochre juvenile flower spikes, yet to mature to gold flower heads. In the background a geebung with a black trunk, Persoonia pinifolia [Section 191K], dangles its small spikes of tubular yellow flowers from the pendulous branches. Dampiera stricta [Section 191F] is a low suckering plant covered with bright blue flowers… Maybe there is time to sit and listen to the parrots splashing in the stream below and the chortling magpies in the trees above… Just past the seat, Epacris longifolia [Section 191F] is a low entanglement of branches, bright with red and white tubular flowers. Down the bank of the gully Baeckea linifolia [Section 191J] is a neat upright shrub with willowy branches showered with tiny white flowers.

Crossing the road, a wattle, Acacia oshanesii [Section 191D], is a small tree with soft divided leaves and clad with cream buds just exploding into pale yellow flower balls. Around the corner is a particularly pleasant scene. Scattered about the Blandfordia Swamp are the lovely bell-shaped flowers of Christmas Bells, Blandfordia grandiflora [Section 191C], coloured orange-red with yellow tips on upright stems surrounded by grass-like leaves. Accompanying these lovely flowers is Epacris microphylla [Section 191C] with upright stems well covered with small white flowers.

Just past this wonderland there is a background of NSW Christmas Bush, Ceratopetalum gummiferum [Section 191C], with a covering of red calyces replacing the white flowers. Above the rock wall see the prostrate Boronia polygalifolia [Section 191C] with tiny white flowers along its trailing stems. There is another colourful bed on the opposite side of the gully which includes Blandfordia nobilis [Section 191P], with similar but smaller flowers to the species mentioned above… another plant worth seeking.

Such a pleasant walk …                                                              Barbara Daly.