Week 2. October 2000. Away from Yallaroo this week. Off to visit our daughters and their one of a number of parks in the Sydney area that bulge at the seams with an amazing range of Canberra for a couple of days. At Gosford we walked in Brisbane Waters National Park. This is one of a number of parks in the Sydney area that bulge at the seams with an amazing range of native plants all growing on what must be some of the most infertile soil in the world. Grevillea buxifolia caught our eye. This short to medium shrub has soft foliage and unusual grey flower heads.
In Canberra (the Nation’s Capital) visited Floriade, which is part of Canberra’s spring festival. Thousands of tulips and other exotic bulbs plus a small section of native plants. A very impressive display. A day at the National Botanic Gardens was the highlight of the trip. The Botanic Gardens are dedicated to the growing, studying and promoting of Australian plants. Some of the botanical and horticultural highlights: Plenty of Waratahs in flower. A white flowering form known as Telopea Wirrimbirra White and a red-flowered hybrid known as Telopea Braidwood Brilliant. Hakea lissosperma is a white flowered prickly shrub. A specimen in the Gardens appeared to be suckering which is unusual for Hakeas. Would make excellent habitat for nesting birds. Hibbertia empetrifolia is one of the Guinea flowers. This particular specimen was spilling down an embankment and was massed with yellow flowers. Unfortunately very few Guinea Flower species are available commercially.
Back to Yallaroo via the Putty Road which passes through Wollomi National Park. Stopped to examine a roadside population of Grevillea montana that is a medium shrub with red and green flowers. We found a single plant with yellow and green flowers. This specimen was flowering profusely whilst the “conventional” plants carried very few flowers. The yellow and green form would appear to have some horticultural potential. As with all our trips, nurseries were visited and plants purchased. More about these additions to our collection later.