Sowing the Seeds

We have just spent four fabulous days camping. We have this gorgeous spot we go to which is situated on the South coast of NSW. The water is pristine, the birds were chirping and everybody wore big fat smiles.

The days were hot and sunny, so just perfect for lazing around in your bathers and a sarong. The plants in the area are mostly coastal species such as Coastal Wattle ( Acacia sophorae), Sea Box (Alyxia buxifolia) and Pigface (Carpobrotus rossii).

Our fantastic view from our tent. The kids delighted in waking up each morning for a dive in the river and a good swim. Some mornings the tide was really high and I feared we may be washed out, but it always subsided and left nice little swimming pools.

There were lots of crabs getting about in there and quite a bit of seaweed too. I always wish I could identify the many coastal seaweeds and seagrasses. They look so amazing. Just so textural and structured.

Behind our tent there was a little track that went along for about 20 metres.

The Coastal wattle was all in seed and had these beautiful curly seed pods all over the trees filled with little glossy black seeds. Anyway, the track led us out to this:

We spent a lot of time here, swimming, building the most amazing sand castles and making racing tracks for match box cars.

I went fishing quite a few times and suffice to say we ate very well Lots of fresh fish on the bbq and some yummy abalone too.

I hope to get back again before the end of Summer, so will take lots of shots then of the flora of the area. Hopefully by then I might have my new digital camera and can do my photos some justice!

Yesterday I took a walk along the beach. It was a glorious day and the water just sparkled. There are many whales around here at the moment and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of one, but no luck!

While I was walking through the sand dunes I was admiring all the tough little plants that grow there. They thrive virtually in beach sand, are pelted with wind and salt spray and survive on very little water. Many of the Coastal Tea Tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) have gnarled and twisted trunks, they emulate the dunes and look truly magical. There are little ‘Pigfaces’ (Carpobrotus rossii) which is a groundcover plant with fleshy leaves and stems. It also produces edible bracts just behind the flower, that many Australian Aboriginal people used as a valuable food source.

There were also some of my favourites:

Silver Leaf Banksia (Banksia marginata). This one was growing just behind the surf club. I love Banksia’s and there are so many amazing species, from all over Australia. When I was a young nursery apprentice I remember I dreamed of discovering a new species of Banksia and had the honour of naming it after myself! Unbelievably it was blue with pink stripes

Banksia’s were actually named after Sir Joseph Banks who was an English botanist who travelled with James Cook on the first fleet that landed in Australia about 280 odd years ago now. He must of been amazed at our incredible botanical diversity! Can you imagine how exhilarating it would be going into uncharted lands and discovering a whole new horticultural wonderland? Wow now that would really be INCREDIBLE!!

This is the seed pods of Banksia ericifolia. The flower is a brilliant copper orange and quite tall and slender. The seed pods are of course unique and they are very hairy and bold. It’s funny though because as a child growing up in Australia, many childhood stories were read from the wonderful May Gibbs collection. All her divine little characters were illustrated with impeccable detail, drawing on our native flora. But as in every story, there were the bad guys….and they were the ‘Big Bad Banksia Men’.

When you look intently, or gaze into a Banksia bush next time, see if you can see their little faces smiling out at you.